Lil Baby

Background

Dominique Armani Jones, a.k.a. Lil Baby, is a prolific and popular rapper who rose to fame because of his lyrical prowess and creativity. He was born on December 3, 1994, in Atlanta, Georgia, deep in the Oakland City neighborhood. His father decided to leave them behind; hence, their mother became the family’s breadwinner. He grew up with his two sisters. He attended Booker T. Washington High School but dropped out in the ninth grade. He took to street life and got into drug dealing full time. He was arrested in 2012 and charged with possession with intent to sell, amongst other various charges. The following year, his charge was marijuana possession; in 2014, he got arrested again for marijuana possession with the intent to sell. He did time for two years following that.

Jones frequented the Atlanta-based Quality Control Records studio as a drug dealer by the time he was 17 years. The label founder, Kevin ‘Coach K’ Lee, took note of his street respect and cred, ‘lingo,’ and swag and encouraged him to become a rapper. Young Thug and Gunna became his mentors and helped him develop his delivery style. He rose to fame, recognition, and mainstream popularity after releasing his first mixtape, “Perfect Timing,” in 2017, which featured Young Thug and Lil Yachty. In 2018, he released his debut studio album “Harder Than Ever”; it ended up being certified R.I.A.A. platinum. It featured the hit single, ‘Yes Indeed,’ which ranked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. He had collaborated with Drake on the single. He released two more mixtapes that same year ― “Drip Harder” and “Street Gossip.” “Drip Harder” featured ‘Drip Too Hard’ with Gunna ― his biggest hit single to date; it ranked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Street Gossip” ranked at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200.

His second studio album, “My Turn,” released in 2020, brought him more success, ranking at number one on the Billboard 200 and earning platinum thrice by R.I.A.A. ‘We Paid’ was his hit single with 42 Dugg; it ranked at number 10 on the Hot 100. In the same year, he released the hit single, ‘The Bigger Picture,’ which also charted on the Hot 100 at number three. He did a collaborative album with Lil Durk in 2021 ― “The Voice of the Heroes”; this project was his second work to be featured on the Billboard 200 in the first place. Jones is always attaining new milestones and growing steadily in his career. He has received one Grammy Award and one B.E.T. Award. He was also recognized and crowned the biggest all-genre ‘Artist of the Year’ at the Apple Music Awards in 2020.