“Bitch it’s Dababy what you heard about me?” The tone of the opening line to Dababy’s hot track “Walker Texas Ranger” oozes the confidence the rapper seems to have after only a short time in the industry. It’s apparent Dababy knows his own talent and worth as an artist, and why shouldn’t he after the meteoric rise he has seen in the last year? Dababy has such an infectious voice and flow that as soon as I heard “Light Show” in 2017, I knew this guy would be a star. He has the swag and charisma that all of the best have, and he backs it up with a unique voice and flow as well as a more fun and dark take on typical trap music. Most people would think his rise was another random attribution to meme culture and he’s just another flash in the pan viral rapper, but I promise Dababy is here to stay. Now that he has us all hooked and wanting to go “Baby on Baby” ourselves, he will definitely be a household name for years to come.
Dababy was born Jonathan Kirk in Cleveland, Ohio in 1991, bit moved to Charlotte, North Carolina when he was 6. This is where the rapper keeps as his base and continues to stay to this day. When asked who his inspirations for his music are, Dababy has stated that he was into 50 cent, Lil Wayne, and Eminem, but has a lot of other influences from the early 2000’s as well. Honestly, I can personally see the influence of Lil Wayne and Eminem in his music. He uses tight metaphors in a way that is definitely similar to Lil Wayne, and has a commanding voice like Wayne. The comedy that he tries to put into his music and visuals/music videos is very reminiscent of Eminem. Both Dababy and Em have a natural knack for entertainment and shock value, knowing how to tow this line very well. When asked if he had any influences in his hometown of Charlotte, he said there wasn’t really a rap scene in Charlotte. He was the first one. Originally called Baby Jesus, he didn’t really start rapping seriously until 2015. He had been arrested enough times to get his driver’s license revoked, and decided he needed to start using his time more positively. This is what led him to rapping. Early on, he changed his name from Baby Jesus to Dababy because (probably rightfully so) he thought his original name wouldn’t be loved very much by the industry.
Dababy started to gain traction in 2017, after a series of mixtapesto come out in the previous couple years. His first big song was “Light Show,”off of the mixtape “God’s Work: Ressurrected” from 2016. He followed this mixtape with the “Baby Talk,” series, release 5 mixtapes throughout 2017 and 2018. He made waves in 2017 as well for walking around SXSW in an adult diaper. Dababy knows all about shock value and how to entertain, the the press from this stunt really helped catapult his career. He is something of a marketing genius, pulling stunts that relate to his name for comedic content. His music videos for “Suge” and “Baby on Baby” are great; I won’t even ruin them for you, just watch them for yourselves for a laugh His last mixtape and the conclusion to the “Baby Talk” series, titled “Blank Blank,” came out at the end of 2018. This mixtape features the songs “Walker Texas Ranger” and “Beeper,” two of his biggest mixtape tracks to date. Dababy then released his debut album “Baby on Baby” in March of 2019, and this album has been dominating hip hop heads for the last couple months.
“Baby on Baby” is a culmination of everything that has made Dababy so good thus far. It has a typical 2019 trap sound and vibe to it, with the energy and charisma of Dababy making the it extremely unique. Dababy’s voice alone is so catchy and powerful that it catches attention very easily. This record is punctuated by the songs “Baby on Baby,” “Suge,” and “Baby Sitter” (featuring Offset). All three of these songs are trap bangers and have an infectious flow; “Suge” and “Baby on Baby” are already going down as summer bangers. Another good cut is “Celebrate,” featuring Rich Homie Quan. This song continues to emphasize Dababy’s tantalizing flow and lyricism, with Rich Homie using his auto crooning to give a nice variation to this track. Honestly though, every song on “Baby on Baby” is very good; I recommend just listening to the whole record.
Over the last year and a half, we have seen Charlotte’s own Dababy soar to the top of hip hop. It may seem like he came out of nowhere, but he has in fact been making waves in the mixtape scene for a long time. Now that he is here, he will not be going anywhere for a long time, so we better get used to it. Personally, I love Dababy and am happy to see him shine. If don’t want to be a lame and want to be caught up on Dababy’s music and look cool to your pals, his Spotify is linked below.
Thanks for reading!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4r63FhuTkUYltbVAg5TQnk?si=RNrS5QD7TRaS1YQz5QTBBA
Sources: https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/who-is-rapper-dababy.html/,
Photo cred: https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/Da-Baby/profile/
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