Ranking the Babies

Art by @lil_ye

It only feels right to cap this list with a literal baby. At the age of 3, Baby Teezie dropped a music video for “Amazing,” which featured confident-beyond-his-years lines like: “I don't wanna talk if you ain't trying to pay me.” Flashing a wad of cash in front of a group of older kids on a neighborhood playground, Teezie made it immediately clear that he wasn’t ready to let his lack of life experience hold him back from becoming a boastful (and lowkey inspiring) rapper. Not far removed from learning how to walk, he invented his own “sauce” dance move as a toddler. What a legend. It’s been two years since “Amazing” dropped at the time we’re publishing this list, and we haven't seen much else from him (besides a must-watch behind-the-scenes video), but we can’t wait to see what a 5-year-old Teezie is capable of. Imagine the rhyme schemes he must be coming up with now that he's been to kindergarten. Sure, his skills as a rapper are still raw and his discography is as small as his stature, but Baby Teezie gets bonus points for being a true baby rapper in every sense of the word. —Eric Skelton

Almost three years after YouTube was born, Detroit’s LaTonya Myles (better known as T-Baby) dropped the video for her single “It's So Cold in the D.” The song went viral for all of the wrong reasons: While it has a somber tone and asks serious questions about life in the streets (the hook literally asks, “How the fuck do we ’pose to keep peace?”) the single got roasted by many, with a large portion of its now 10 million views possibly coming from people tuning in to diss T for her skills or the low-budget clip. While T-Baby told The Detroit News that she was hurt by the comments on the video (which featured shots of Detroit, including the place where her friend Mason Graham was murdered in 2006 after attempting to break up a fight), she persevered and dropped a single, “Detroit Style,” in 2017. That song didn’t pop, netting a paltry 22K+ views on YouTube, but “It’s So Cold in the D” has solidified T-Baby as one of the realest babies in the rap game. —khal

Atlanta’s own Bali Baby has been on her grind. She’s one of those artists who you might not realize is as big as she is (she’s racking up millions of plays on singles like “Banana Clip”), but she’s kind of an icon on the low. One of the few openly gay rappers on the scene, she has a host of EPs and mixtapes to her credit. Screaming “pussy is power,” she goes in on hypnotic, turnt tunes, but also spends time getting her rock and pop on with intriguing singles like “Backseat.” While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the song (taken from her 2018 release Baylor Swift) shows Bali’s range and highlights that she’s not only on some lowkey iconic shit just by being who she is, but that she’s getting closer to touching both the pop and hip-hop charts, one banger at a time. —khal

In a word, BBG Baby Joe is authentic. Watching the video for “Smoke,” with him and his boys gooning on their block with the sole decoration of crime scene tape, it’s hard not to believe he’s all about exactly what the fuck he’s spitting. Which, for the uninitiated, consists of a lot of drug slinging, beefing, and, uh, wet work. Still, the music is never too grim to engage with. Listening to a song like “Smoke” will have you ready to court some the instant anyone tries you. —Frazier Tharpe

Yung Baby Tate popped up on our radar in early 2019, when the visual for her short film, GIRLS, began circulating on Twitter. The Georgia native raps, sings, writes, and produces her own music—an impressive feat for a 23-year-old up-and-comer. Tate says she identifies as a singer first and a rapper last, which comes across in her music; even when she’s rapping, her cadence stays singing-adjacent, but without veering into emo rap territory, which sets her apart from her peers. The beats on her latest project, also named GIRLS, range from atmospheric to tropical to rambunctious, a wide variety of sounds for Tate and collaborators to sing and spit on. On “Pretty Girl,” whose remix features Killuminati and Mulatto, Tate’s flow is fast-paced and bratty; on the immediate next track, “Bad Girl,” she both sings and raps, with her rap verses sounding not unlike early Nicki Minaj. Back-half tracks “Lover Girl” and “Flower Girl” are closer to R&B, highlighting Tate’s gently raspy vocals. Another BWP (Baby With Potential), Tate could be one to watch as she continues to master her sound and broaden her roster of collaborators. —Carolyn Bernucca

Baby Soulja’s name has been in some truly wild headlines this year. In February, everyone thought he was dead after a car crash, until his brother cleared up the rumors and said it was a hoax and Soulja’s Instagram page was hacked. Then, in March, several blogs reported that he fired a missile into an abandoned building. But despite all the noise and distractions, the most interesting thing about Baby Soulja is the music. The Florida rapper’s style is raw and unpolished, giving listeners an unfiltered look into the 25-year-old’s reality in Jacksonville. The hypnotic PC Tweezie-assisted “FACING 10” is anchored by a menacing delivery, while songs like “Thug Cry” show his soulful side. In other words, his music reflects everything you would hope for from a rapper named Baby Soulja who owns a grenade launcher. —Eric Skelton

SahBabii is only 22 years old, but his career has already gone through a series of wild chapters. His ultra-viral breakout hit “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick” racked up over 100 million total plays and was remixed by everyone from T-Pain to Wiz Khalifa to Young Thug (even Drake got in on the fun). Then he got in (and out) of a multimillion-dollar deal with Warner Records and announced a looming retirement so he could focus on other things, like making anime video games. But through it all, he’s remained dedicated to doing everything his own way, and that’s exactly why an intensely loyal squid fanbase has grown around him. Making all of his songs in a bedroom studio and freeing himself of pressures from the outside world, SahBabii has homed in on a unique, watery style that doesn’t quite sound like anything else happening in rap right now. He’s a one-of-a-kind babii. —Eric Skelton

If we were placing bets on the next baby to blow this year, Sada might be the favorite. It’s almost as if assigning baby to your identity puts you in either of two archetypes: undeniably charming or ironically cold-blooded. Sada is the latter. Following an unlikely path towards rap that included both basketball and culinary programs, he worked his way into the game’s good graces. At the tail end of January, Stereogum praised him for releasing what it called 2019’s first great rap album, and hyperbolic though that may be, it’s not too far off. Bartier Bounty has everything the mainstream asks of rappers of Sada’s ilk these days: bars, mean-mug music we can dance to, and experimentation with melodies that doesn’t come at the expense of the overall image. When you listen to songs like “Aunty Melody,” you won’t get the impression that Sada is trying to cross over into the Detroit that he lightly derided when he rebuked Eminem as being a top-five rapper from his city. But you can see the seeds of a wider-ranging appeal being sown regardless. —Frazier Tharpe

Bhad Bhabie, whose birth name is Danielle Bregoli, is an elite-ranked baby because she is, in fact, baby. Bregoli is 16, which means yes, she was born after 9/11. Her age was central to the incident that launched her career, when the then-13-year-old, foul-mouthed Bregoli appeared on Dr. Phil, told his studio audience to “catch [her] ousside,” and became a viral sensation. Two years later, we got her debut mixtape, which left a lot to be desired, but did include objective bops “Hi Bich” and “Gucci Flip Flops.” The Floridian’s rise to stardom has raised valid questions about cultural appropriation and authenticity, but with regard to the latter, there’s no denying it: Bregoli really is “bhad.” After all, she tried to steal a crew member’s car during the taping of her Dr. Phil episode, and has been banned from Spirit Airlines for life after a physical altercation on one of their planes. In 2019, it became clear that she’d been putting in work in the studio when she released “Babyface Savage” with Tory Lanez and debuted a quick-tongued new flow. The single shows promise, and if all else fails, at least the name “bhabie” will actually be accurate for the next few years. —Carolyn Bernucca

What’s going on? Is what we’re hearing the sound of you laughing at Baby Bash being on this list? If so, we’ll wait until you’re done. You good? Alright, bet. Compared to the other babies on here, Cali’s Baby Bash is easily one of the most commercially successful. The Mexican-American rapper’s biggest single, 2003’s Frankie J-assisted “Suga Suga,” might sound corny AF now (and was, truthfully, corny AF back then), but it hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart, and even went No. 1 in New Zealand. Your favorite baby could never. From 2001 to 2015, Bash dropped nine solo albums (although we can’t imagine you could name nine Baby Bash songs), and he’s dropped eight additional collaborative albums dating back to 1994. He’s collaborated with the likes of Akon, T-Pain, E-40, Fat Joe, and others, and his immaculate pen game has been used for artists like Jennifer Hudson. We’ve not heard solo Baby Bash material in quite some time, but dude’s got the work ethic and melodies to drop another “Suga Suga” on you naysayers if he wanted to. Or you could just throw “Suga Suga” on again and be taken back to whatever middle school dance you macked on your first shorty at. —khal

Big Baby Scumbag might have the best name on this whole list (even Nardwuar thinks so). The three-word moniker is brash, confident, and self-aware, and it beautifully describes the man behind it. If you’re new to the Big Baby Scumbag experience, his music video for “Dale Earnhardt” is the best place to start. Rocking a Dale Earnhardt Jr. hat and dressed in racing gear, Scumbag feeds cans of light beer to literal goats as he barks lines like, “Still eating ramen noodles, bitch I like the taste!” The Tampa artist has more going for him than the over-the-top gimmicks, though. Behind the exaggerated aesthetic is a legitimately witty rapper with a powerful delivery and a unique, charismatic personality. Come for the goats, stay for songs that will get stuck in your head and never leave. If you're a fan of “Dale Earnhardt,” dive into these next: “Austin Powers,” “Black Joe Dirt,” and “Major Payne.” —Eric Skelton

Baby Keem’s YouTube page consists of only three videos, none with more than 22,000 views as of this writing. But it’s a measure of his influence and promise that one of those clips is directed by Shia LaBeouf. Hykeem Carter first came to fans’ attention because of his affiliation with TDE: He worked on the Black Panther soundtrack and produced two songs on Jay Rock’s Redemption. And that’s not all of the heavy hitters he’s aligned himself with: His song “Baby Keem” was produced by Cardo, and the two have continued to work together. He also has writing and production credits on Schoolboy Q’s CrasH Talk single “Numb Numb Juice.” But no matter who’s backing him up or working alongside him, Keem’s style, musicality, and personality ensure that he has a long career ahead of him as a solo artist on his own footing. —Shawn Setaro

It’s always a thrill to watch the mainstream mint a new star in real time. This winter, as we waited impatiently for the A-listers of the game to get back to work, DaBaby came through and put himself in those ranks through quality, sheer force of will, and a 1,000-watt gleaming-grill smile. He has a winning personality, and the music hits. No compromise necessary. How rare! Whether he’s coining his own self-referential phrases like “goin’ baby,” going bar for bar with Offset and Megan Thee Stallion, or delivering some of the most entertaining visuals in rap right now, DaBaby is one of 2019’s most impressive breakout rappers. Best of all, there’s no concession to his skill. He’s funny and likable, and he actually spits. Listen to the verses on “Suge” and try to tell me he doesn’t have bars. —Frazier Tharpe

One of the best babies in the game right now is Lil Baby, without a doubt. Over the years, Drake has been known to get so hype about a new artist that a collaboration with them turns into a massive hit. That’s what happened with “Yes Indeed,” his 2018 collaborative single with Lil Baby, although the Atlantan had already been impressing those in the know with cuts like “Freestyle.” The Atlanta rapper gained plenty of buzz off songs like “My Dawg” from his 2017 tape Harder Than Hard. While there’s some Young Thug influence in his flow (which makes sense, considering Thug was an early collaborator), Baby rides the pocket in a unique way and spits with ease. In turn, he’s finding all kinds of chart success. Not only did his debut album, 2018’s Harder Than Ever, debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, but the aforementioned “Yes Indeed” climbed to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. His collaborative album with Gunna, Drip Harder (which featured another Drake collab, “Never Recover”), hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and drew loads of critical praise. Add to that some roles in films (like MTV’s How High 2), as well as lucrative brand deals, and Lil Baby is one baby you can’t sleep on. Plus, he has one of the best baby lines of all time: “Wah-wah-wah, bitch I’m the baby.” —khal

Whether you know him as Birdman, B-32, Stunna, or Baby, it’s safe to say that Bryan Williams has as much to do with today’s hip-hop landscape as anyone else alive. His label Cash Money, which he co-founded with his brother Ronald (known to one and all as Slim), helped launch Southern rap into the mainstream with their historic Universal deal in 1998. And just as that initial wave of success was dying down, the one artist who hadn’t left the label in a cloud of nonpayment accusations managed to turn himself into the Best Rapper Alive through sheer work ethic, force of will, and a limitless supply of punchlines. Then came Nicki Minaj and Drake, and in their wake, associations with pretty much every hot artist coming down the pike, from Tyga to Young Thug to Blueface. There have been downsides to Baby’s legacy, of course: the financial controversies, the alleged violence, and the Carter V fiasco. But when you take his entire legacy into account, from Cash Money’s early days to the present, Baby’s contributions to rap stand far and above those of anyone else on this list. He has paved the way for all the other babies. —Shawn Setaro