Comedian Lil Duval sparked a trending moment on Twitter back in June when he compared DaBaby to Ludacris, and now the latter has chimed in on the discussion.
A few months back, Duval suggested DaBaby is “this generation[’s] Ludacris,” highlighting the two artists’ often comedic music videos. As his comparisons opened a can of worms—with some agreeing and others vehemently opposing—it was enough to provoke a response from the Charlotte, North Carolina rapper not long after.
Appearing in a new interview with the Breakfast Club, Ludacris gave his thoughts on the comparison and defended Duval’s take.
“I saw people give him a lot of slack for that, and I was like, ‘That’s crazy,’ because I understand where Lil Duval was coming from,” said Luda at the 14:50 point of the interview. “You know, in terms of everything we’re talking about, having fun with your visuals, and being playful, and being slick with the lyrics and having subliminals.”
While he understands the comparison, he also gets why some reacted the way they did, too. “I can understand where he came from with that, but I think people were trying to compare my two decades in the game to however long DaBaby’s been in there, for like two or three years,” he continued. “I think he’s a great artist, and I’ve said that before, and I love the fact he said he was inspired by my videos. … So he already had paid homage, man, so I wasn’t really tripping like that at all.”
When DaBaby spoke about the comparisons earlier this year, he admitted he was inspired by Luda but also noted he’s got many more influences. "I feel like that’s too commonly used,” said DaBaby in an interview with Billboard in late June. “I think people use that too lightly. I was inspired by Ludacris’ creativity with his music videos. [I was inspired] by a lot of people. Not only people like Ludacris, but people like Nelly. I mean, everybody.”
Elsewhere on the Breakfast Club, Ludacris spoke about his legacy in hip-hop and responded to Charlamagne saying he doesn’t get enough credit for his lyrics.
“I appreciate that, like I said Jay-Z said the same thing, man,” he said at the 16-minute mark. “For me it’s just all about leaving a legacy, which is what I’m trying to do here and doing things I think are fun. … I feel like, all these conversations about rappers and top 10s, I love how strong people’s opinions are. But at the end of the day, in a year or two, the list is going to be different! … 10 years it’s going to be drastically different, 20 years from now it might not even be the same motherfuckers on the list.”
While he doesn’t try to get too wrapped up in lists and rankings, Luda added that he’s trying to be “here for a century or more.” Circling back to his lyrical abilities, he said, “I appreciate the love on the lyrics, because that is one thing that I try to make sure is incorporated when you have a conversation about Ludacris.”
Watch the full interview above.
