Lil Baby spent two years leading up to WHAM, whose deluxe version was unleashed on Jan. 3, evolving as an artist and a man. The payoff will be evident when he finally releases his self-titled project, Dominique, later this year.
The Atlanta native recently spoke with Spotify’s Rap Caviar about how the personal transformation pushed him to mature musically and why he is taking his time rolling out the body of work. “Now I’m 30 years old, know what I’m saying, I came into the game [at] 22 years old. From where I was at 22 to where I’m at now is completely different. The way I think, the way I move, I gotta do everything a certain way. So, I had to like take these last two years to transition into who I am today,” explained Lil Baby from the comfort of his in-home barbershop.
With WHAM, he said, his supporters can still get that “street n**ga feel … and Dominique more of who I transitioned to.” The 2019 Bet Hip Hop Awards Best New Artist winner shared that with each project he has been intentional about letting listeners in, showing more vulnerability and more of his true self instead of the rap persona many have come to know. “I just wanted to start dropping songs to get back into the algorithm … just get ‘em back warmed up and then drop the album,” he said.
The self-titled effort will be a departure from tracks like “F U 2X,” “I Promise” and “Streets Colder,” which are all featured on his latest studio effort. As he delved further into the details about the upcoming release, Lil Baby proclaimed, “I feel like I got a whole new sound, like different kinds of songs. I think that everybody still be expecting one way, but I'm coming a whole different way.”
In fact, he admitted that he wanted to release the projects in reverse but recognized that he needed to give fans an opportunity to acclimate themselves with his evolved creative trajectory. “It was ‘gon be too fast for my fans, 'cause I ain’t bring them up to speed to Dominque. … I had to look at it differently, like, well, I ain’t in the streets no more. … I’m the streets. I can’t get grown on my fans too quick. … Now, they can see me as two people.”
Check out the full interview, where Lil Baby also speaks about working with 21 Savage, Young Thug and more.