Trump Pardoned Him. Now This Rapper Is on a $70 Million Sold-Out Tour.

YoungBoy’s shows have become a bright spot in an otherwise down year for commercial rap.

Almost six months after receiving a pardon from President Trump, the 26-year-old rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again is on track to gross $70 million on a sold-out, cross-country tour.

YoungBoy’s tour has been an emphatic success, selling more than 500,000 tickets and filling more than 40 arenas across the country.

This success marks a stunning turnaround: In December 2024, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing weapons as a felon. Known for a sprawling catalog of Southern hip-hop that can swing quickly from bleak (“I’m just a lonely child/Who wants someone to help him out”) to boisterous (“I’m real American-made, run with Chargers like Vin Diesel”), YoungBoy built a devoted following online. He is especially popular on YouTube, where he outperformed better known artists including Drake and Taylor Swift last week in the U.S. But due to his legal issues, YoungBoy has never been able to prove his clout as a live performer.

In May, the rapper, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, called his pardon an “opportunity to keep building—as a man, as a father, and as an artist.” “This moment means a lot,” he added on Instagram. “It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for, and I am fully prepared to step into this.”

YoungBoy’s team started planning this tour two years ago, and had been ‘patiently waiting for the right time’ to launch it, said Antoine ‘Fee’ Banks. The presidential pardon removed any last obstacles.

Sure enough, his tour has been an emphatic success, selling more than 500,000 tickets and filling more than 40 arenas across the country. “It’s a landmark moment [for him],” said Colin Lewis, global tour promoter for Live Nation. “[This] puts YoungBoy in a league with only a handful of names in the hip-hop space. It shows his reach isn’t limited to streaming.”

His triumphant concerts open with the artist emerging from a coffin suspended above the stage. A handful of dancers join YoungBoy at times to twerk and perform routines choreographed by the singer and “One Battle After Another” actress Teyana Taylor, who helped with the tour’s creative direction.

Jessi Snyder, a 20-year-old influencer who was in the crowd at YoungBoy’s concert in Jacksonville, Fla., said she was nearly moved to tears by the experience. “Everyone was hyped up from the moment the lights went down” in the arena, she recalled. “People were singing every lyric, jumping and just completely locked in.”

“The energy has been so crazy because there’s just a lot of pent-up demand” for YoungBoy, added Shareef Stradford, 24, who went to both of the rapper’s shows in Columbia, S.C. “He’s not even supposed to be a free person right now.”

During YoungBoy’s performance, a handful of dancers join him at times to twerk and perform routines choreographed by Teyana Taylor.

This enthusiasm has rippled back to streaming services, giving YoungBoy’s already robust numbers an additional boost. Between January and the end of August, the rapper’s catalog earned an average of around 133 million plays a week, according to data company Luminate. Since hitting the road in September, that weekly average has risen to 181 million.

YoungBoy’s victory lap has had some bumps. Arenas in Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta canceled planned shows without explanation. Representatives for the venues either declined to comment on their decision or did not respond to a request for comment.

“It’s them canceling, not us,” said Andrew Lieber, YoungBoy’s agent, who posts fiery Instagram videos touting the rapper’s accomplishments at each concert he attends. “It sucks that the few cities that have canceled are taking that position. It’s not fair to the artist; it’s not fair to the fans.”

YoungBoy’s team started planning this tour two years ago, and had been “patiently waiting for the right time” to launch it, said Antoine “Fee” Banks, who co-manages the rapper. The presidential pardon removed any last obstacles.

Obtaining a pardon was “about finding the right attorneys,” Banks explained. That attorney turned out to be Brittany Barnett, who has had success obtaining clemency for inmates facing life sentences for nonviolent drug-related offenses. One of Barnett’s previous clients was Alice Marie Johnson, a great-grandmother serving a life sentence for a first-time federal drug offense; Trump commuted her sentence in 2018 before fully pardoning her in 2020.

This February, Trump made Johnson his “pardon czar.” A White House official said Trump has always been interested in pardoning those who have been excessively or unfairly prosecuted

In a statement, Barnett said it was “an honor to represent Kentrell and to have played a part in the process that led to his presidential pardon.”

“His journey reflects growth, redemption and the transformative power of second chances,” the attorney added. “I’m proud to see him using his freedom to create art that inspires millions.”

Write to Elias Leight at elias.leight@wsj.com