For 1,580 brutal days, Lontrell “Pooh Shiesty” Williams Jr. stared down the concrete walls of federal prison, unsure if freedom would ever touch him again. Once a blazing young star crowned as a 2021 XXL Freshman, his rise was suddenly ripped to pieces by violence, gun charges and a justice system ready to make an example of him.
Locked up at just 22 years old, Shiesty wasn’t just sitting out a sentence — he was battling the ghosts of his past, retracing every decision that led him from the Memphis streets to a cell in Pennsylvania. Convicted of conspiring to possess firearms in connection to a robbery and shooting in Florida, he faced years behind bars, watching others live the life he had only just begun.
But then, in October 2025, something seismic happened — Pooh Shiesty walked out a free man. Early release. Fresh air. New chance. Like a phoenix rising from ashes that once threatened to bury him forever.
Now 26 and sharper than ever, Shiesty sat down in Dallas with XXL for the rawest, most unfiltered conversation of his career — a man rebuilt, not just rebooted. He didn’t just talk about music. He exposed his soul.
While he was away, the culture didn’t stand still. “Back in Blood” — his platinum megahit with Lil Durk — continued to blast through speakers around the world. His debut Shiesty Season stayed alive in playlists. But for Pooh, that success felt like a ghost haunting him — a reminder of what he once had and could still lose if he wasn’t careful.
Now, he’s sober. Clear‑visioned. Focused. He calls himself the “more clean version” — someone who sees the path forward with an intensity only someone who nearly lost his future can understand.