Back in 2014, YBN Nahmir and YBN Almighty Jay met playing the video game Grand Theft Auto V. Not long after, the crew formed in a GTA chat room and began making rap music together. In 2018, YBN Cordae joined the collective and his star soon began to rise. His album The Lost Boy was nominated for a Grammy in 2019.
Come 2020, Nahmir announced on Twitter that the collective had called it quits. “They left this YBN shit in the gutter. Remember that. I’ll turn it up myself. #ybnNAHMIR.” And just like that, it was over. A few days later, Almighty Jay announced he is moving on from the group with a new sound.
It’s a little ironic that the group that formed over video games split up on social media, making YBN crew, which stood for “Young Boss Niggas,” a rap experiment in the digital age. Each member looks to be going their separate ways. At its height, YBN included YBN Nahmir, YBN Almighty Jay, YBN Cordae, YBN Carl, YBN Dayday, YBN Glizzy, YBN Malik, BN Manny, YBN Nicky Baandz, YBN Walker, and YBN Coop.