Lil Baby has seen a meteoric rise in stock over the past 18 months. Sure he's got a helluva support system, being a student of Young Thug and a product of the Quality Control machine, but it’s Baby’s distinct approach to songwriting that has separated him from his peers. He consistently tempers his surface level bravado with keen self-reflection, and his riveting inner monologue has fast-tracked joints like “Freestyle” into cult classic status.
With over half a dozen projects to his name, it’s a wonder Lil Baby even has spare verses for his features. With that in mind, it’s a clear testament to his work ethic that some of Baby’s most effective passages can actually be found across his various collaborations.
Listed below are five of Lil Baby’s best guest spots.
One thing for sure, Lil Baby go crazy!
5. Ricki Rich - "This Morning (ft. Lil Baby)"
Many of Lil Baby's stray features are with fellow up starts that may not be as visible as their QC-backed counterpart. Produced by OG Parker, "This Morning" sees Cleveland rapper Ricki Rich in her bag, wielding a relentless flow to great effect. This sets the scene perfectly for Baby's more measured cadence, allowing him to exude confidence simply by playing with the tempo.
4. Skillis - "Street Smart (ft. Lil Baby)"
With the advent of Young Thug's Jeffrey and Drake's large scale import of similar dancehall influences, much of the industry has been sent scurrying to the islands for newfound inspiration. QC, never missing a step, has done a great job at introducing their artists to these new markets. Thankfully, this collaboration between Skillis, an up and coming star from St. Ann, and heir to the ATL throne, Lil Baby, sounds more organic than it does manufactured. During his verse, Baby shows respect for Jamaican culture and unabashedly engaged in some heartfelt crooning about love, violence and legacy.
3. Quando Rondo - "I Remember (ft. Lil Baby)"
On this Savannah to Atlanta connection, Quando Rondo and Lil Baby meld their complimentary styles in order to create a poignant portrait of souls trapped between a rock and a hard place. Both rising stars in their own right, this somber ballad is a series of dark, suffocating memories presented from the eye of the storm. Alongside Rondo's more elastic vocals, and against a back drop of stoic contemplation, Baby's oft-monotonous drone finds new life. Always able to do a lot with very little, Baby's near whisper-flow keeps the listener hanging onto his every syllable. "I remember everything/Judge told my lawyer that I'm going to chain gang," he opens, seemingly intent on shedding every bit of his former self through this one verse.
2. Gunna - "Sold Out Dates (ft. Lil Baby)"
Young Thug recently went on a rant about his influence; although he was ostensibly talking about his fashion, it's hard to look at artists like Gunna and Lil Baby, or Lil Uzi Vert, and not give Thugger all the credit for their ability to pierce through to the mainstream. In just about a year, both Gunna and Lil Baby have evolved from rough demos to full-blown bangers, and their synergy on tracks like "Sold Out Dates" has us salivating for their rumored collab tape, Drip Harder. Double dates with twins, retiring Wraiths in favor of Benzes, firing your girl just to hire her friend - Baby's verse may be the better of the two, although it's neck-and-neck for the most part. The bar that pushes Baby over the edge might be, "On they neck 'til it breaks, ain't pushin' no brakes/I got on two watches, I still come in late."
1. Gunna - "Oh Okay (ft. Young Thug & Lil Baby)"
And finally, "Oh Okay." Produced by Turbo, this highlight off Gunna's Drip Season 3 is a powerful reminder of Young Thug's influence, as well as the notable strides made by his premier students over the course of just a year and some change. Although both Gunna and Lil Baby openly embrace Thug as their foremost influence, no one could've predicted that they'd be able to go to toe to with their mentor after having rapped for only a fraction of the time. Of course Thug's overall range is unparalleled, but it says a lot that Baby was able to do just as much as Thug with the pocket they found on this Turbo-produced joint. After eulogizing Hugh Hefner, Thug slyly hands off the mic to Baby, who slides in sounding frighteningly similar to a younger Jeffrey. When he finally declares that he's "going number one this year," it doesn't sound all that ridiculous ("Yes Indeed," the Harder Than Ever single with Drake, went on to peak at #6 on the Billboard Top 100).