How Old Is NBA YoungBoy? Age & Family Facts

The Short Answer

NBA YoungBoy is 26 years old. Born Kentrell DeSean Gaulden on October 20, 1999, he released eight mixtapes between 2015 and 2017 as a teenager, signed with Atlantic Records, and broke through with "Outside Today" (2018). His albums AI YoungBoy 2 (2019) and Top (2020) both hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. He married Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes in January 2023, and at 26 he is the father of 13 children.

Early Life and Background

Kentrell DeSean Gaulden was born on October 20, 1999, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and raised largely by his grandmother after his father was sentenced to prison. He dropped out of school, turned to music as a teenager, and released eight mixtapes from 2015 to 2017 - an astonishing output for a 16-to-18-year-old - building a fervent regional following.

He signed with Atlantic Records in 2017; the singles "Untouchable" and "No Smoke" became his first Billboard Hot 100 entries. "Outside Today" (2018) was his mainstream breakthrough - top 40, quadruple platinum - leading his debut album Until Death Call My Name (No. 7). His 2019 single "Bandit" with Juice Wrld became his first Hot 100 top 10, and the mixtape AI YoungBoy 2 debuted at No. 1 - the first of several chart-toppers.

His career has been shadowed by legal troubles - arrests, house arrest, federal cases - that repeatedly interrupted his momentum. Yet his output never stopped: he is among the most-streamed rappers in the world, with a fanbase whose loyalty borders on religious. In a 2026 interview, he mused about quitting rap entirely, saying his proudest achievement is his children.

Kentrell's Baton Rouge childhood was the school of hard knocks: raised largely by his grandmother after his father drew a 55-year prison sentence, he dropped out of high school, got involved in street life, and was arrested as a juvenile - the rap sheet starting before the rap career. Music was the exit: recording as a teen, he dropped eight mixtapes between 2015 and 2017 - Life Before Fame, Mind of a Menace, 38 Baby, AI YoungBoy - building a Louisiana cult that Atlantic Records couldn't ignore. He became a father at 16 (Kayden, 2016), a signee at 17, a star at 18: the timeline of his life is permanently compressed, everything happening a decade early.

Career Highlights

NBA YoungBoy's career is defined by volume and velocity. Few artists have released so much, so young: dozens of mixtapes and albums by 26, multiple Billboard 200 No. 1s (AI YoungBoy 2, Top, and later chart-toppers), and streaming numbers that rival Drake's among young audiences. His raw, melodic, emotionally direct style - part pain, part menace - made him the voice of a generation of Southern rap fans.

Collaborations with Juice Wrld, Nicki Minaj, and others expanded his reach, but his core remains his solo output and his YouTube dominance - for years, he was YouTube's most-watched artist, outpacing even Drake. Legal issues have cost him touring years, but never his audience. At 26, with retirement musings in the air, his next chapter is hip-hop's great unknown.

The commercial stats are absurd: multiple Billboard 200 No. 1s (AI YoungBoy 2, Top, Sincerely, Kentrell), the first artist to have every track on an album certified gold (AI YoungBoy 2's 18 tracks), and for years YouTube's most-watched musician - outpacing Drake, week after week, purely on fan devotion. "Bandit" with Juice Wrld (2019) was the crossover; the catalog since is oceanic. The legal counter-narrative - 2019-2025's arrests, house arrest in Utah, federal gun cases - cost him touring years but never his audience. The 2026 i-D interview's retirement musings ("I want to quit right now") suggest a star weighing whether the marathon is worth it.

Family and Children

NBA YoungBoy is the father of 13 children with 10 women - a family as sprawling as his discography. His eldest, son Kayden (born July 2016, with Nisha Keller), arrived when YoungBoy was just 16. The children include Taylin, Kamiri, Kacey (with Jania Meshell), Armani, Kodi, Kentrell Jr. (with Yaya Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather's daughter), Kaell, and others.

With his wife, Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes - married January 2023 - he shares three: daughter Alice (born 2021), son Klemenza (born 2022), and a baby girl born in late 2025/2026, his 13th child. In his 2026 i-D interview, he said his children are his proudest achievement: "I feel like my W will be shown through my kids." At 26, he is already the patriarch of a very large, very public family.

Marriage and Relationships

Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes has been NBA YoungBoy's wife since January 2023. The couple got together in 2022, and she is the mother of three of his 13 children. Their relationship has played out partly in public - including social media tensions in 2026 that had fans speculating about trouble - but they remain married.

Before Jazlyn, YoungBoy's relationships included high-profile involvements with Jania Meshell and Yaya Mayweather (whose 2020 stabbing case involving another of YoungBoy's partners made headlines). His romantic history is as prolific as his music - but Jazlyn, as his wife and the mother of three of his children, occupies a distinct place in the saga.

Family Roots and Extended Family

The Gaulden family: grandmother Alice Gaulden, who raised him and remains his moral center (he named daughter Alice for her); his incarcerated father; siblings and cousins in Baton Rouge. The 13 children's mothers - Nisha Keller, Starr Dejanee, Jania Meshell, Drea Symone, Yaya Mayweather, Jazlyn Mychelle, and others - form a sprawling, tabloid-documented extended family, with custody arrangements and relationships playing out in public. His wife Jazlyn Mychelle Hayes (married January 2023) anchors the current chapter: three of the 13 are hers, including the newest baby girl. It's a family tree that requires a spreadsheet - and YoungBoy, at 26, is its patriarch.

Where Are They Today?

As of October 2026, NBA YoungBoy is 26 - turning 27 on October 20 - and at a crossroads. Fresh off tour, recently relocated, and openly musing about quitting rap in his i-D interview, he seems to be weighing fame against fatherhood. His 13th child arrived within the last year, and his reflections on his kids suggest a man reconsidering what matters.

At 26, he has lived enough for several careers: teen mixtape phenom, chart-topper, legal saga, father of 13, husband. Whether he retires or keeps going, the question "how old is NBA YoungBoy" will keep stunning people - because 26 simply doesn't seem like enough years to contain it all.

At 26 - 27 on October 20, 2026 - YoungBoy is at the crossroads his i-D interview described: fresh off the Make America Slime Again tour, relocated, talking retirement, and insisting his kids are his proudest achievement. The 13th child arrived within the last year; the marriage to Jazlyn has weathered public wobbles. Whether he quits or continues, his output already guarantees legend status among his generation - the most prolific, most streamed, most devotedly followed rapper of the 2020s' first half.

Why Fans Keep Asking

People ask "how old is NBA YoungBoy" because the numbers don't compute: 13 children, dozens of projects, multiple No. 1 albums, years of legal drama - all by 26. He became a father at 16 and a star at 18, compressing a lifetime into a decade. Every new headline - a new baby, a retirement hint, a new album - sends fans back to the basic, disbelieving question: how is he only 26?

YoungBoy's 26 is hip-hop's most disbelieving number: 13 kids, dozens of projects, multiple No. 1s, years of legal drama - a lifetime compressed into a decade. People ask because the math feels impossible; the answer forces a reckoning with how young he was when it all started (16-year-old father, 17-year-old signee). At 26, he has lived several careers - and he's talking about quitting.

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