DaBaby

DaBaby finally makes his Interscope Records debut. His top-charting album Baby on Baby solidifies his mark in the music industry. Unlike the thousands of fans who’ve known the name for quite some time, he’s a new voice to my ears, one I had chosen to lollygag about. My brother raved about the North Carolina native MC and insisted on my listening to his latest body of work. I brushed it off but one day while I was scrolling through Tidal, the Baby On Baby project popped up on my list of ‘Suggested New Albums.’ I was at the gym and I figured, “Why not take a listen,” and I freaking loved it. He truly has a sound all his own. It’s infused with hip-hop and trap but there’s something about his flow that’s undeniably unique. This generation tends to replicate sounds amid simultaneously trying to call it a sound they “created.” However, DaBaby truly does have his own sound. I listened to every song on this album because I fell in love with his energy from the opening hype anthem “Taking It Out” to bouncy closing acts like “Walker Texas Ranger.” He has a crazy flow and a high level of marketability that’s catapulted him to international acclaim – The album opens with his hit single “Suge” that’s amassed millions of streams and over 80 million views on YouTube. There’s something about that record, that’s just absolutely infectious. He found the pocket of the production and flowed over it perfectly thus giving this track stuck-on-repeat tendencies. The record listens and views like a Suge Knight parody riddled with truths about the slave-like nature of the music industry. “Suge” also boasts with his witty, playful and charismatic personality. DaBaby raps, “The first n** play, I'ma body a n** (Ha) I just checked my balance / I'll probably pull up to your hood and come buy me a n**** (No cap)”

When people say rappers these days have dumb names I wonder how people felt the first time they heard a nigga call himself Ol Dirty Bastard, Juicy J, or even “Biggie”. Rap names are dumb until rappers’ abilities prove otherwise. I really respect that part of the process. People will say “who the fuck is this dude named after candy?” one day and then say “Eminem is one of the greatest rappers of all time” the next. Talent trumps everything. This brings me to DaBaby. First things first it’s mad grown rappers who call themselves Baby. There’s a Baby epidemic, much like the “Lil” crisis of the early 2000s and the underreported YBN outbreak of 2014, there’s several rappers who incorporate Baby in their name. The crotchety “my joints pop more than fireworks on the 4th of July” side of me is annoyed with this. However, the open “I refuse to acknowledge my age and responsibilities” side of me wanted to give him a shot. Plus, I went to middle school in North Carolina, and DaBaby has the most hype NC rapper since Petey Pablo. I will never forget how proud white (potentially racist) radio DJs were when they heard Petey shout out small NC towns. So with that I gave a spin to DaBaby’s new tape, Baby on Baby.

DaBaby stands out for several reasons from others Southern rappers making a name for themselves in the mainstream. For one, he is from Charlotte, North Carolina, which is not known nationally as a Hip Hop hub. He is very funny and jester like in songs and music videos. He has a runaway motormouth flow, technical in more of a Lil Wayne way than a Gucci Mane nursery rhyme way or a Lil Baby melodic way. He actually has killed when so many others merely pretend to have killed – and in his case, it was clear self defense when a 19 year old tried to rob him with a gun in Walmart while DaBaby was buying winter clothes with his family. DaBaby had the quicker draw, so yeah, not to be f’d with. I was vaguely familiar with him before giving this album a spin, really liking a video he released last year called “Pull Up Music”, and I was instantly hooked by his confident and playful delivery over a wonky yet sort of seductive beat. In fact, I had noticed him even before this in an interview which actually featured more heavily Atlanta rapper and convicted drug lord Ralo – where DaBaby went by Baby Jesus and he was actually ‘just the other guy in the room’ – but in hindsight, Ralo was always a downgraded version of Young Thug – respected much more for his street power than his rapping ability – whereas DaBaby was always the talented one – yet don’t get it twisted – he seemed to also command a lot of street respect, and put his trap reality into his music. He is popular because he’s been grindin’ since 2015, and certainly because he represents the wacky yet technically proficient southern rhymer position that has been vacant since Ludacris semi-retired from Hip Hop. In fact, I find that Luda’s style fell out of favor when Chicago Drill music became a thing, and their nightmare version of Trap infiltrated other regional styles, and changed audiences tastes for many years. While 2 Chainz certainly is still funny and gregarious, it has been a long time since someone showed out in a clever and comical way for the newer generation. A really tough street dude with a sense of humor and proficient flow – that’s DaBaby.