PlaqueBoyMax has always shown love for NBA YoungBoy’s music, but one particular criticism of the Slime Cry track “Headtap” ended up rubbing the rapper the wrong way.
PlaqueBoyMax recently appeared on the Respectfully show with Justin Laboy, where the two discussed everything from Max’s vasectomy to his new EP Crash Dummy. One of the more talked-about moments, however, centered around NBA YoungBoy publicly reacting to PBM’s comments about the song.
When asked about the situation, Max explained that he was simply being honest with his opinion.
“If I feel a certain way about some music or some s**t, I cannot help it. I’m going to share my opinion,” the rapper, producer, and streamer said. “N**as got tight. I don’t know why, genuinely, to this day, why it was that reaction to that s**t. Because I f**k with YoungBoy. I think he’s an amazing artist.”
He then shifted focus to how social media tends to amplify negativity over praise.
“So I’m just like… These clip pages, the negativity? That’s the s**t that goes viral. So they gon’ push that negativity… Y’all n***as is stupid as f**k, bro…”
Max also argued that positive opinions rarely gain the same traction online because controversy drives engagement.
“There’s a bunch of good opinions. But y’all don’t see that,” he continued. “‘Cause that’s not what gets people to engage with that post. So people have to have a little more social media literacy to understand y’all are being treated like sheep.”
He went on to say that fans are often influenced into believing certain narratives because outrage performs better online.
“You got to break out of that and understand what you’re looking at. You’re being programmed to see certain things or believe certain things because that’s what gets you mad or gets you to engage…”
Despite the backlash, PlaqueBoyMax made it clear he still respects NBA YoungBoy and has been listening to him since high school. He also stressed that criticism comes with being an artist.
“At the end of the day, you’re an artist. If you believe in the work you put out, stand on it, bro. You know how many n***as call my s**t trash? I don’t give a f**k.”
PlaqueBoyMax fired back with the same energy after NBA YoungBoy initially called him out over his criticism of “Headtap.” At the time, he even reached out to figures like DJ Akademiks in hopes of helping smooth things over.
In the grand scheme of things, the situation may not have been that serious, but even small criticisms can hit artists differently depending on the context. For commentators like PlaqueBoyMax, who understands the mindset and emotions tied to creating music, the bigger point was that having an opinion on a song doesn’t automatically equal a final judgment on the artist as a whole.
