Lil Baby says he’s backing off making politically charged music.
Atlanta rapper Lil Baby has approximately three years of experience in the rap game, yet he has already risen to prominence as one of the hottest, yet conscious figures in the genre. Armed with a noticeable Southern drawl beefed up by a bit of auto-tune, the young spitter has shown that he knows just what the public wants to hear. Yes! They have been paying attention, because how else would his debut studio album My Turn go double platinum; making him the only artiste to do so this year. While My Turn sees Baby offering up a ton of content surrounding his days as a drug slinger, it is his single “The Bigger Picture,” which ultimately painted the rapper has a man for the people. The Quality Control talent was chatting to GQ Magazine when he spoke of the impact of the song as well as why he shied away from taking a big dip into politics.
“The Bigger Picture” was released during the heights of the upheaval following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police. While the lyrics did not call for any specific action or political move, one line seemingly insinuated the application of additional pressure to the oppressive forces. “You can’t fight fire with fire, I know, but at least we can turn up the flames some,” he rapped.
The 25-year-old was quickly seen as one of the voices steering the people engaged in combat. It’s clear that the song and moving Black Lives Matter inspired music video quickly took root. However, Lil Baby not quite ready to sink his heels into the political arena. He showed his hand when he quickly removed an Instagram post he made about working with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to initiate police reform. He told GQ, “The more I’m seeing what’s up with all that sh*t, the more I’m like, ‘Let me back up off politics. I don’t want to be no Malcolm X or Martin Luther [King].… I stuck my nose in it. I’m good on that.”
At one point, it seems that the rapper had actually gotten his nose wet in politics, when District Attorney Paul Howard, who sent Baby to prison in 2014, announced the rapper’s “endorsement and support.” Lil Baby has since called such claims a lie, but he did reveal that there was a physical meetup between them surrounding criminal justice reform after they were “introduced by a mutual acquaintance.” Sadly, the sometimes shady practices involved in politics may just be the main reason the rapper is planning to keep as far left as possible.
Along with posing in a couple of different threads from what we are accustomed to seeing him in, Lil Baby also spoke to the magazine about the number of tragedies that he has faced since 2020. These include the murder of his friend and inspirator, Lil Marlo, along with the passing of another friend as a result of the deadly coronavirus.
