Lil Baby was already a force to be reckoned with after unleashing a series of mixtapes and his debut project Harder Than Ever between 2017 and 2019. His star power reached new heights when he dropped his second studio album My Turn at the top of 2020, going on to earn the Atlanta native some of the biggest hits of his career and two Grammy nominations at the 2021 ceremony.
The album's lead single "Woah," as well as some subsequent singles like "Sum 2 Prove," "Emotionally Scarred," and "The Bigger Picture," all peaked within the Top 40 region of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the album landed on numerous year-end lists. While he didn't walk away with any Grammy awards for My Turn, the massively successful project was recognized as this year's Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the iHeart Radio Music Awards.
In a pre-taped acceptance speech, the rapper thanked the people that made it all possible. “First off, I wanna say it’s an honor to receive the Hip Hop Honor of the Year,” Lil Baby said during the acceptance speech. “I wanna give a special thanks to iHeartRadio, and all my fans and all my supporters. Thank you.”
The Atlanta native surely earned the recognition, too. My Turn became Baby's first Billboard 200 chart No.1 album and was also the highest-selling album of 2020, pushing roughly 2.6 million album-equivalent units since its release in February of 2020. In February of this year, the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.
Lil Baby also accompanied the family of George Floyd on a visit to the White House on Tuesday to commemorate his death. There, he and Floyd's family members privately met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Baby notably used some of the proceeds from his single "The Bigger Picture" to help put together a birthday party for Floyd's daughter Gianna in December of 2020.
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