Lil Baby is a born hustler, and it shows when the Atlanta rapper takes the stage — he's full of energy, always on the move, and blessed with the gift of gab. But even his high, hypnotic, and harmonic fast raps frequently get drowned out by fans chanting along to his catchy hits, which often set tales of past strife and current striving to slapping trap drums and minimal melodies. His 2019 The New Generation Tour was rightly named since Lil Baby represents the next chapter in Atlanta's white-hot and wildly creative hip-hop scene. His debut mixtape, ‘Perfect Timing,' dropped in 2017 and featured local heroes like Young Thug, Lil Yachty, and Young Scooter. His debut album, ‘Harder Than Ever,' arrived just a year later boasting a Drake cameo ("Yes Indeed") that solidified the man's place in the mainstream. Since then, even his mixtapes land in the Top 10 — 2018's ‘Drip Harder' with Gunna hit No. 4 and inspired multiple outlets to declare Lil Baby and his partner as one of the best duos to hit rap in years.

Lil Baby Background

Raised by a single mother in a tough pocket of Atlanta, Dominique Jones quickly found out he could progress faster in the streets than at school. Even though he wasn't rapping yet, he became friends with Young Thug and the Quality Control Music label crew as a teen, becoming a staple presence at the studios where he'd shoot craps while shooting the breeze with the artists and their friends. But in 2017 he stepped into the booth as Lil Baby and basically stayed there for a year, honing his skill on a series of mixtapes that went increasingly viral. Early hits like "My Dawg" and "Freestyle" showed off a charismatic storyteller and skilled MC who brought emotion and swagger to his verses. In 2018, his Capitol Records–backed official debut, ‘Harder Than Ever,' proved Lil Baby could hold his own next to massive stars, whether singsong rhyming alongside Drake or trading hard rapid-fire lines with Migos' Offset.