Lil Baby is a $5 million-dollar-worth American rapper. His debut studio album, “Harder Than Ever,” was certified Platinum and peaked at number three on the “Billboard” 200 chart in 2018. His follow-up, “My Turn,” released in 2020, was even more successful, topping the “Billboard” 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and going 3x Platinum.
Lil Baby has also released a number of mixtapes and worked with a number of artists, including Gunna, Moneybagg Yo, Ralo, Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, Gucci Main, Offset, Young Thug, Lil Yachty, and Lil Durk. In 2020, he directed the music videos for “On Me,” “Hear This,” and “Walk” by Rylo Rodriguez (which featured Lil Baby and 42 Dugg).
Early Life
Dominique Armani Jones was born on December 3, 1994, in Atlanta, Georgia. His father abandoned him when he was two years old, and he was raised by his single mother. He was raised by two sisters and dropped out of Booker T. Washington High School in his freshman year. Lil Baby was arrested in 2012 on multiple charges, including possession with intent to sell.
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His lawyer tried to persuade him to accept a two-year plea deal, so Lil Baby hired a new lawyer who got him into a one-year program. While participating in this program, he got into a fight with a prisoner who made racial remarks, and Lil Baby was sentenced to the original two-year sentence. He was charged with marijuana possession in 2013, and marijuana possession with intent to sell the following year. Lil Baby began his rap career with Quality Control Music and his own label, 4PF, after serving two years in prison (4 Pockets Full).
Career
Lil Baby’s debut mixtape, “Perfect Timing,” was released in April 2017, and was followed by “Harder Than Hard” in July, “2 The Hard Way” (with Marlo) in October, and “Too Hard” in December. “Too Hard” was certified gold and charted at #80 on the “Billboard” 200 and #33 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The mixtape included the single “Freestyle,” which was certified 2 Platinum; the music video for “Freestyle” has been viewed over 400 million times on YouTube. “All of a Sudden,” another single from “Too Hard,” went Platinum and peaked at #20 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
On May 18, 2018, Lil Baby released his studio album “Harder Than Ever,” which included the Gold single “Southside” and the 6x Platinum single “Yes Indeed.” In October, he released the mixtape “Drip Harder” (with Gunna) and in November, he released “Street Gossip.” “Drip Harder” was certified platinum, and “Street Gossip” was certified gold, both mixtapes charted in the top ten on the “Billboard” 200, and “Drip Harder’s” singles, “Drip Too Hard” (with Gunna) and “Close Friends,” were certified 9x Platinum and 4x Platinum, respectively. In September 2018, Lil Baby appeared on Adult Swim’s “FishCenter Live,” and in December of that year, he was featured on Yung Gravy’s single “Alley Oop.”
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Lil Baby made an appearance as himself in the MTV film “How High 2” in 2019 and performed on “Wild ‘N Out.” He also released the singles “Phone Down” (featuring Stefflon Don), “Out the Mud” (featuring Future), “Baby” (featuring Quality Control and DaBaby), “Toast Up” (featuring Ali Tomineek and Shad on the Beat), and “Woah,” which went triple platinum. On February 28, 2020, he released his second studio album, “My Turn,” which included the Platinum singles “Sum 2 Prove,” “Emotionally Scarred,” and “The Bigger Picture.” Twelve songs from the album charted on the “Billboard” Hot 100. In the aftermath of the George Floyd protests, Lil Baby released the protest song “The Bigger Picture” in June 2020.
The proceeds from the song were given to Black Lives Matter, The National Association of Black Journalists, The Bail Project, and Breonna Taylor’s attorney. The song peaked at number three on the “Billboard” Hot 100 chart and earned Lil Baby two Grammy nominations.
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He also performed the song at the Grammys in 2021. He was featured on Drake’s single “Wants and Needs,” which peaked at #2 on the “Billboard” Hot 100 chart in March 2021. In June 2021, he and Lil Durk released the collaborative album “The Voice of the Heroes,” which debuted at number one on the “Billboard” 200 chart.
Personal Life
On February 18, 2019, Lil Baby and model/entrepreneur Jayda Cheaves welcomed their son Loyal. The couple began dating in 2016, and Cheaves appeared in his music video for “Close Friends.” Lil Baby also has a son named Jason from a previous relationship with Ayesha. On the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s murder, the rapper joined his family at the White House in May 2021. They discussed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Lil Baby was arrested in Paris in July 2021 for cannabis possession. He was released from police custody the following morning and fined.
Awards and Nominations
Lil Baby has three Grammy nominations: Best Rap/Sung Performance for “Drip Too Hard” (2020), Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song for “The Bigger Picture” (2021). He was nominated for Song of Summer (“We Paid”) and Video for Good (“The Bigger Picture”) MTV Video Music Awards in 2020, and he won nine ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards in 2021, including Songwriter of the Year.
He won a BET Award for Best New Artist in 2019, and Best Male Hip Hop Artist in 2021. In 2020, Lil Baby won a BET Hip Hop Award for Impact Track for “The Bigger Picture,” and in 2021, he won an I HeartRadio Music Award for Hip-Hop Album of the Year for “My Turn.”
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He has also received nominations for American Music Awards for New Artist of the Year and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album (“My Turn”), as well as nominations for “Billboard” Music Awards for Top New Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Album, and Top “Billboard” 200 Album.