NBA YoungBoy has revealed that he intends to become a Mormon, with him crediting the Christian tradition with saving him from a dark place.
In an extensive new interview with Billboard, the Louisiana native revealed that his love for Mormonism started after being visited by missionaries whilst he was on house arrest in Utah. He said that he turned them away the first time they arrived before changing his mind and welcoming them in.
“I wanted help very badly. I needed a friend. And it hit me,” he expressed. “It was just cool to see someone with a different mindset that had nothing to do with business or money — just these wonderful souls.”
The missionaries then started to visit YoungBoy every day, and together they would discuss The Book of Mormon. Eventually, they all worked to “make sure” that the rapper’s “heart was in the right space” in view of his eventual baptism by The Church of Latter-Day Saints when his house arrest concludes.
“Even when my negative thoughts come back, when I do want to tell them, ‘Not today,’ I just don’t let nothing stop it,” he said.
Elsewhere in the chat, NBA YoungBoy explained that his new interest in the religion partially inspired him to rap with less violent lyrics on some of his new music.
“What if they don’t like me now?” he explained, wondering how fans have received his new approach. “I’m not changing. I will not be provoked, I will not be broken, and I’m not going back to who I used to be. Accept it or not — I ain’t going back.”
The interview followed NBA YoungBoy releasing his first album of 2023, I Rest My Case, which was noted for its less violent lyrics. It debuted a No. 9 on the Billboard 200.
