Everything You Need to Know About DaBaby

DaBaby is having a breakout year in 2019. Here's everything you need to know about the rising rapper.

DaBaby Getty image
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Image via Getty/Rodin Eckenroth

DaBaby Getty image

There are a lot of “Baby” rappers in the game at the moment, but none are gaining momentum quite like DaBaby. The 27-year-old artist has only been rapping since 2014, and yet, he’s already attracted a large fan base with hits like “Suge” and “Goin Baby.” 

Born Jonathan Lyndale Kirk in Cleveland, Ohio, he and his family relocated to North Carolina when he was just five years old. He had some brushes with the law, but decided to turn his life around in order to take care of his kids and find new direction for his life. Not long after he traded his extracurricular activities in for rap, DaBaby won fans over with his signature deep voice on his debut album, Baby on Baby. His charismatic personality on social media propelled him forward in the industry, as well as on the Billboard charts. 

He’s just taking off, but DaBaby is already claiming he's the best rapper out. It's a bold statement, but with a platinum record taking over the radio (and landing at the top of our Best Songs of 2019 So Far list), a placement on a No. 1 album, Revenge of the Dreamers III, and a spot in XXL’s 2019 Freshman Class, DaBaby is well on his way to becoming a household name.

Here's everything you need to know about DaBaby. 

He began his career rapping under the name ‘Baby Jesus’

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DaBaby performed under the moniker, Baby Jesus, until 2017. During an interview with XXL, he explained the name change “shows me the amount of love and respect people have for me. To change the name and not lose any traction, that’s something a lot of people have trouble doing.”

He wore a diaper at SXSW 2017

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DaBaby gained national attention in 2017 at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. It wasn’t his live performance that turned heads, though. He was walking around in a diaper. During several interviews in the following years, he explained that the diaper was merely an advertising scheme that created buzz around his name. Fortunately for the concert-goers, he didn’t actually use the diaper as a portable toilet.

He was involved in a shooting at Walmart in 2018

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Roc Nation signed DaBaby, but both parties parted ways before the news was announced

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He says he got into music to help people

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Denzel Washington is the only one capable of playing him in a biopic

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Being one of many “Baby” rappers doesn’t bother him

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The music market is saturated with “Baby” artists at the moment. There’s Baby (aka Birdman), Lil Baby, Baby Keem, Yung Baby Tate, Bhad Bhabie, and more. Ordinarily, having a similar name as another artist could be a problem, but DaBaby says he’s cool with the growing community of babies. “I ain’t trippin’ man,” he said on The Breakfast Club. “I salute it. I love it. I don’t shy away from it.” In July, he even collaborated with Lil Baby. The song name? “Baby.” Of course.

He says he's "the best rapper"

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He once paid Boosie $15k for a feature

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He says he's not affiliated with gangs

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Despite many conflicting reports, DaBaby says he is not affiliated with gangs. The rumor began swirling after DaBaby appeared to be throwing a red flag, which is a symbol of the Bloods, in a video on social media. While the rapper claims several of his loved ones are in gangs, he insists that he is not a part of one. “Baby don’t motherfuckin’ gang bang,” he explained in a video ripped by Tape Alert. “Baby ain’t Blood. Baby ain’t Crip. Baby ain’t GD. That shit you saw in the video, that wasn’t no red flag. It didn’t have the print on both sides.”

His dream features include Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, and more

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He’s reportedly being sued for a fight involving his security team that left one person in a coma

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He is gaining a reputation for his memorable freestyles

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Hand a mic to DaBaby at any point in time, and you know he’s going to kill it. Since Baby stepped into the industry, he has been making waves on social media with his freestyles. He has garnered a lot of praise for his freestyle in the XXL Freshman cypher. He’s also demonstrated his attention-demanding cadence and clever wordplay in freestyles on Funk Flex, The L.A. Leakers, and FuckYouTalmbout. DaBaby is such a standout freestyler, that even T.I. had to give him his props. “My Boi Eatin on dis HO,” T.I. wrote on Instagram following his L.A. Leakers freestyle.

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