Lil Baby's had an astonishing rise to the top of the rap game. Over the course of a year and some change, he went from buzzing Atlanta artist to one of the hottest new artists in hip-hop. He has top 10 hits and albums to his name and he's just getting started. In a recent interview with XXL, Lil Baby explained how it all started with Young Thug pushing him to get in the studio.
"I go to the studio and I make a little song but I put the little clip on Instagram and when I put it on my Instagram, Gucci Mane commented under like, 'I'mma sign him.'" Lil Baby recalled. "And Thug was like, 'he already signed to me.'"
Although he had two of the biggest artists out of Atlanta backing him, it was Young Thug who really mentored him coming up in the rap game. He admitted that Thug had to put some money up in order for Baby to leave his neighborhood in order to go to the studio and record.
"Young Thug really paid me to leave the neighborhood," he recalled. He continued to recount Thug persuading him into leaving the hood, offering to pay him for whatever wages he loses that day. "I was makin' more money hustlin' than I was rappin' so I was more into hustlin' but I wasn't lookin' at the bigger picture of rappin' to where I am today," he said.