Ghostwriting is inching its way out of hip-hop's shadows as more artists admit to hiring songwriters. While some genre purists have conflicting thoughts on this topic, it was a similar connection that created one of today's most entertaining duos.
Genius stumbled upon a 16 Bars interview with Lil Baby. During the conversation, the rapper disclosed that used to pay Gunna to write his raps when he first started to dip his toe into music.
"I done paid Gunna to write my songs," Lil Baby said near the interview's five-minute mark. "I never put the songs out, but when I first started to rap I used to pay him like $100 like, 'Imma give you $100, write something for me so I can try to learn how to go in there and record it.'... That's how I used to practice."
Gunna has also stated on several occasions that he helped Lil Baby hone his skills. During a conversation with Rolling Stone, Gunna explains how he inspired Lil Baby to take music seriously.
"I kinda helped push [Lil Baby] a little bit to go harder," Gunna said. "He didn’t really care about [rapping] that much. He was being him, just chilling. I was critiquing his music, but also letting him know it sounded good, he should keep going, [offering] words of encouragement."
Gunna's encouragement (and Lil Baby's $100 bribes) didn't just foster a successful creative partnership, but it also sparked a relationship that goes deeper than music.
"Gunna [is in] a hand group of people I don't look at as friends," Lil Baby told 16 Bars at the video's four-minute mark. "I consider Gunna, like we ain't friends, we more than friends."
