Young Thug Is Making Money Fun Again

After seeing the new video for Young Thug's "Check," I'm beginning to think that he is literally in love with money. I've never seen someone as enamored with the look and feel of dollar bills as he is. Just watch the video and look how hard it is for him to keep his hands away from the omnipresent stacks of cash surrounding him. Just thousands of dollars strewn about, floating in the air, even stuffed into his damn shirt.

The video's most recurring prop is our beloved money phone. (Who is he calling on his money phone? How does he know when a money phone is ringing? Is it actually even his own money or does it belong to his label overlord Birdman? And how long did Birdman let everyone play with his money until he made them pick it up, count it, and give it back?) Over the course of four minutes, money phones are supplemented with money fans and money rain and the rapper's eyes gleefully bulging at the realization of the fact that there's, you know, all this money for him to play with.

The "Rap Video (Ft. Money)" conceit itself is a pretty standard trope at this point, but Thug's usage is especially and uniquely endearing. Most of the time, rappers floss their bands in an ostentatious way, as if to say, "Hey, look at how rich I am! Aren't you jealous?" With Thugger, you sense a specific inner elation he gets from the mere presence of the wads of paper bills. He's not putting on a show for our sake; he really just loves playing with money.

He loves posing with it, too. His Instagram page is full of pictures and videos of his newfound (or newly borrowed) wealth. And he has a blast with his favorite toy:

Racks are the new Slinkies.