Slime Language 3 is the third collaborative compilation album by American record label YSL Records in conjunction with its leader, American rapper Young Thug. It was released through the label and Create Music Group on August 28, 2026. The album features appearances from signees BSlime, Tezzus, Diamond*, Sk8star, 1300Saint, Biggs Money, Lil Unky, Iyrus, Yume, Unfoonk, Yung Kayo, and the late Lil Keed, with further outside appearances from Rob49, Quavo, Lil Baby, Papito El Franklins, Travis Scott, Future, Yeat, Veeze, Lito the Plug, Skrilla, Rundown Zay, Cash Cobain, HittMan, Jorjiana, Trippie Redd, Pz', Bay Swag, Mariah the Scientist, YKNiece, and Lil Righteous. Production was handled by Iyrus himself, alongside Wheezy, Mike Will Made It, Honorable C.N.O.T.E., and Pi'erre Bourne, among others.
Slime Language 3 was preceded by its singles "Hood of Atlanta", which features diamond* and Tezzus, and "Consummate", which features the latter, Thug himself, and 1300Saint. It serves as the final installment of the Slime Language album trilogy, following the first album in 2018 and its sequel (also in collaboration with now-former label signee Gunna) in 2021. The album also serves as the first project to be released by YSL since Lil Keed's passing in 2022, as well as Gunna's departure from the label in 2025 after his longtime friendship with Thug ended after the racketeering trial involving several artists and associates from the label from 2022 to 2024, due to the latter accusing him of taking the stand against him in the courtroom.
Upon release, Slime Language 3 generated mixed to positive reviews from music journalists, with them criticizing the bloated tracklist, but also expressing praise for its energy and shift towards a new generation, and its impact on the newer style and generation of hip-hop music. Upon release, it sold 11,000 album equivalent units and debuted at #146 on the Billboard 200. In September, Thug, alongside Nav and YSL signees Tezzus, Diamond*, 1300Saint, Iyrus, Yume, Biggs, and Unky, are currently embarked on the "YSL New Generation Tour" in support of the project. The tour is scheduled to last from September to October and stretches from North America to Europe.
Background and recording The idea for Slime Language 3 first surfaced on May 16, 2026, when American rapper and YSL signee 1300Saint mentioned the project during an appearance on American online streamer PlaqueBoyMax's live stream. He followed up with another tease on X two days later, beginning a rollout that would remain relatively quiet before accelerating in August. In June, Young Thug would explain the sound of the project via an interview, where he stated that it would sound similar to 2016 music and his debut commercial mixtape, Barter 6 (2015). Thug explicitly revealed the album through an Instagram post in a video conversation with American audio engineer and record producer Mike Dean, where they said the recording process was complete. 1300Saint revealed five days later that the album would have over 30 tracks. An album trailer was revealed with its release date. It was originally scheduled to be released at midnight Eastern Time Zone (ET). Still, it was delayed until the evening after Thug revealed that he and his signees were in the hospital to watch the birth of American stylist and creative consultant Ian Connor's child. Following the delay, Diamond* would give an update on the official YSL Instagram page, revealing that the project would see a release soon and that signees and affiliates were still working diligently on the project. Furthermore, Thug would then go on X to announce that the project would have some minor changes to it.
Composition Overview Slime Language 3 is a rage and trap album with some melodic senses along it. It is a compilation album and serves as the third and final installment of the Slime Language series. Containing a total of 41 tracks, the project a double album and is split into two discs, side A and Side B, which both have 21 and 20 tracks respectively. The album features guest appearances from new label mates in Tezzus, diamond*, Sk8star, 1300Saint, Yung Kayo, Unfoonk, iyrus, BSlime, Biggs Money, Lil Unky, Yume, and the late Lil Keed, while also bringing in Pz', Lil Baby, Yeat, Travis Scott, Future, Trippie Redd, Quavo, Cash Cobain, Jorjiana, Bay Swag, Mariah the Scientist, YKNiece, Veeze, Skrilla, Rob49, Rundown Zay, Papito El Franklins, Lito The Plug, HittMan, and Lil Righteous. According to Narsimha Gour Chintaluri of Pitchfork, he labeled Side A as a "mosh pit" side that should be heard at a Cole Bennett festival while Side B features a more whimsical side and is more meant for shower singing. According to Aron A of HotNewHipHop, he wrote how the album seeks to bridge the gap between underground rap fans and mainstream rap fans, while focusing more on the youth while bringing in mainstream favorites to maintain balance. According to Zabih Safdari of laut.de, he wrote how Slime Language 3 is "135 minutes of pure chaos" that has no structure whatsoever across 41 tracks.
Composition Side A The seven-minute opening track "Gotta Love Us" is a soporific melodic trap song that sees Young Thug recruit Pz', diamond*, Tezzus, and BSlime. On the track, Pz' hits his notes on the intro, BSlime takes the chorus, and Tezzus employs mush-mouthed syllable play. Across the track, Thug, Tezzus, and diamond* are sparsely featured throughout despite having "solid verses" and being main names for the project. Armon Sadler of Billboard called "ØWAYSL" a fun and "posse loaded track", the track features Sk8star, BSlime, Tezzus, and adds Rob49 in the mix, where BSlime has a very polished flow with his vocal inflections, and Thug takes to majority of the track with his long verse. On Rob49's part, Sadler called it a weak back half, stating that his repeating sequence of the verse and chorus is memorable but tries to see him replicate Thug, which Sadler said wasn't "his best outing", despite having potential with it. On a "fun" beat for "What's Up Mami", the trio of Tezzus, BSlime, and Thug repeats the title line and features a long, high octave chorus by Tezzus with a weaker verse from BSlime and Thug. On "Mob Guys", Thug teams with Quavo, Biggs Money, and Lil Unky" where the track comes in at a run time of two minutes and 24 seconds and features "undeniable charisma", which lifts the track to a "high-octane caper". "Function" features church organs and video game synths which features signature screeches and pocket manipulation by Thug and a repetitive yet catchy chorus by Unky. "Club Outside", Thug teams up with Lil Baby, which sees the two rap over a "frantic trap beat. "Wait For It" sees BSlime and Papito El Franklins team with Thug for a track reminiscent to the 2000s' Roscoe Dash and Metro Boomin's A Futuristic Summa with its vibrant production. "Eaters" is a rage track which sees Thug feature a star studded line up of Yeat, Tezzus, Travis Scott, and Future, however the production on it unremarkable and features "mailed in" and "half-hearted verses".
On "Grandma's Baby," BSlime and Thug recruit Veeze for a strong storytelling song which also showcases strong verses and vulnerability throughout. While "Black Friday" showcases Thug's dexterity and his chemistry with Lito The Plug. "Myself" features more recent and gruffer vocals from Thug and a defiant yet simple verse from Biggs Money. On the "ØWay Remix" of Tezzus' original track, Thug brings in a more earworm-like melodic approach. "YSL" sees Thug rap with Yume, who has a light-sounding yet rich enough voice to make the track stand out. On "Crocodile Skin", Rundown Zay joins BSlime and Thug, which saw BSlime excel, while on "Tezzus & Diamond*", it sees the self titled duo join arms with Cash Cobain, Thug and Quavo, to rap seamlessly together over a "menacing beat". "Shawty Shawty" sees Thug and HittMan aggressively approach a sped up instrumental reminiscent of Chris Brown's track "Poppin'". On "Biggest Since Michael Jack" sees Thug work with Jorjiana, Sk8star, and Lito, where on the track, the trio provided a structured base while Jorjiana sends audacious bars. On the shortest track "We Dead", it sees Thug bring in Trippie Redd and Papito on the two minute and three second track, Sadler wrote how the track features "excellent A&Ring, he also said how Trippie and Papito's "rage DNA" fits the theme of the song. On the seven minute "Bvlgari", which also serves as the closing track to "Side A", Thug brings in iyrus, Tezzus, Lito, Biggs, and Yung Kayo, which features a strong structural chorus and nine verses. Each YSL signee showed out, mimicking each other's flows and cadences with ease, according to Sadler.
Side B Side B opens up with "Believe It", featuring Pz', Unky, and Iyrus. It is the oldest recorded track by Thug, and features a weary, yet anthemic vibe to it according to Chintaluri. Sadler said the track's vibe was "refreshing" with the track featuring a more "bop-like BPM". On "Cha Nay Nay", Thug works with the Ø Way founders Tezzus and Diamond* where on the track, they rap about the Chanel brand, Chintaluri called it an electric jam that sees the trio work very well together while having atonal aggression and sassy affirmations throughout, the track features clashing vocals and ad-libs throughout which made it a less-favorable track for Sadley. On the lead single "Consummate", Thug works with Tezzus and 1300Saint, it is a rage song which sees Tezzus and Saint complement Thug's flow. "Tonight" sees diamond* and Saint join Thug for a track filled with "immersive" production and "true flow state" from Saint and diamond* On "NaNaNa", Tezzus, diamond*, and Sk8star join Thug for a flirty, synth-heavy rage track, which Sadley called an "organized chaos" track, it sees diamond* and Sk8star feature loose flows utilizing clever bars and wordplay. According to Chintaluri, he wrote about how Tezzus and diamond*'s vocals unearth a "Vishal Shekhar-coded melody" while Sk8star debriefs his state of finance. On "Say Dat", Thug joins Saint and Iyrus, which sees Iyrus' "Caribbean energy" for the production and theme of the song. On "Baddies", Thug joins Biggs and Cash Cobain which sees them approach a more club-anthemic vibe to rap about beautiful women. "Birthday" replaces Biggs with Bay Swag and sees the trio of Cash, Bay, and Thug rap about their hedonistic life while matching the energy of the "energetic beat". "Switch Up" sees Thug's fiancé Mariah the Scientist join him on the track alongside Unky and BSlime, it is an R&B and more emotional cut compared to the others despite this, Chintaluri called it the album's one of the worst cuts. "Weird" is a love track, and a "Jeffery-coded mixtape" according to Chintaluri. "Freaky Girl" sees Thug be with Iyrus and diamond*, while "Bounce It" invites YKNiece for a DJ-vibe, "booty shaking anthem."