DaBaby

Who is DaBaby?

DaBaby, born Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is best known for his successful debut studio album, ‘Baby on Baby.’ Born in Cleveland, Ohio, DaBaby was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was the youngest of the three children of his parents. He had run-ins with the law even as an adolescent. He graduated from ‘Zebulon B. Vance High School’ in Charlotte. He was interested in music ever since he was a kid but only became serious about being a rapper around 2014. Soon, he began rapping under the pseudonym “Baby Jesus.” After releasing his debut mixtape, ‘Nonfiction,’ in 2015, DaBaby gained some prominence. However, he got his real breakthrough with the release of his single ‘Light Show’ in 2016. The single received millions of hits on online music-streaming platforms. Over the next few years, DaBaby kept releasing mixtapes on a regular basis. The ‘Baby Talk’ series of tapes became quite popular with the masses. In early 2019, DaBaby announced that he had signed a record deal with ‘Interscope Records.’ His debut major-label album, ‘Baby on Baby,’ was released in March 2019. The album was met with universal acclaim and was a commercial success.

Career

In 2015, DaBaby released his debut mixtape, ‘Nonfiction.’ It was deemed amateurish and failed to attract music lovers. Not disheartened by the poor reception of his debut mixtape, DaBaby continued to work on his next project, another mixtape.

He also did not have any on-stage experience. Charlotte, North Carolina, did not have a great rap music scene either. Thus, DaBaby tried to look for options. In the spring of 2015, he moved to Austin, Texas, to participate in the ‘South by Southwest Music Festival.’ There, he proved his mettle by performing live on many of his tracks from his mixtapes.

He gained good response at the festival and then released another mixtape in 2016, ‘God’s Work: Resurrected.’ He managed to bring Boosie Badazz to collaborate with him.

Beginning with this mixtape, he began using the moniker “DaBaby.” In a short introduction to the mixtape, he explained that there were political reasons behind him changing his stage name.

The mixtape ‘God’s Work: Resurrected’ somehow worked a lot better than his debut mixtape and earned a lot of attention. In the absence of a record label, DaBaby usually released his singles and albums independently, on online platforms such as ‘SoundCloud,’ where he developed a significant fan base over the years.

In the following few months, DaBaby released several more mixtapes, such as ‘Billion Dollar Baby’ and ‘Back on My Baby Jesus Sht.’

With each new single, he became more popular. He also gained popularity with his ‘Baby Talk’ series of mixtapes.

He released the first instalment of his ‘Baby Talk’ mixtape in January 2017. It is arguably his most successful tape to date. The same year, he released three more instalments. All were successful. He also attended the ‘South by Southwest Music Festival’ that year and performed live.

Of all his singles from his mixtapes, one stood out the most. Titled ‘Light Show,’ the single was released in 2016 and became immensely successful. The single became immensely popular on ‘SoundCloud,’ ‘Datpiff,’ and ‘YouTube,’ making DaBaby an internet celebrity.

In June 2018, he released ‘Baby Talk 5,’ the last instalment of the ‘Baby Talk’ series. In November that year, he released another mixtape, ‘Blank Blank,’ which was fairly successful.

A huge career breakthrough came his way in early 2019, when he announced that he had signed a deal with ‘Interscope Records,’ one the biggest music labels in the country.

He also announced that he was working on his debut studio album, ‘Baby on Baby.’ The album released in March 2019 and had 13 tracks. It featured a number of popular artists, such as such as Offset, Rich Homie Quan, and Rich the Kid, as guests.

The album was an instant success, debuting at the 25th spot on the ‘Billboard 200’ chart, eventually rising to the seventh spot. A single from the album, titled ‘Suge,’ became particularly popular with the listeners and reached the eighth spot on the ‘US Billboard Hot 100.’

Critics appreciated the album, with ‘Pitchfork’ giving it 7.7/10.