Lil Baby Proves to be One of The Biggest Artists of 2020

with The Release of My Turn

Written by Shivam Patel
18 November 2020

Lil Baby (pictured) performing at Lollapalooza 2019 in front of 100,000 people.

Rating: 4/5

Have you ever listened to hip/hop music? What about hip/hop from Atlanta? Has it ever related
to your life experiences? It is one of the most mainstream music genres right now. Hip/hop has
gained a lot of attraction throughout the 2000s with the expression of women, drugs, and money.
The genre is spread throughout many artists and styles.

Lil baby has been steadily gaining traction with his consistent release of albums. His newest
album voices relatable themes of relationships and life experiences with songs like “Grace” and
“Same Thing.” He admittedly has some filler songs that reiterate the generic themes of drugs,
sex, and money, but he does so in a way that makes it entertaining. Although there are some
generic themes of hip/hop in My Turn, it exhibits a more resounding theme of self-reflection and
conveys deeper emotions with creative wordplay.
With significant artists like Childish Gambino, Migos, and 21 Savage emerging from Atlanta, it
has always been a prominent cultural center of hip/hop. With new styles of hip/hop emerging,
Atlanta has popularized trap music. The overuse of drugs, money, guns, and women have been
popularized and glorified.

Enter Lil Baby.

Fresh out of jail in 2016 on drug and gun charges, Baby began to rap while he was doing
dangerous drug and gang-related things in the streets. His daily lifestyle was apparent in the
music that he would make. His breakout song, “My Dawg,” highlighted the brotherhood he has
made on the streets and has also brought him more mainstream attention. Lil Baby’s record deal
with QC Records has connected him to many other talented artists like Migos, Drake, Travis
Scott, and more. With the consistent release of new music, Baby became one of the most
intimidating artists in hip/hop.

My Turn album cover depicting Lil Baby surrounded by goats (Quality Control/Motown).

With the release of his new 20 song album My Turn, on February 28th, 2020, which features
appearances from Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, and other artists close to him, My Turn shows Lil
Baby’s consistent nature. With many filler songs in the 20-song album, the album sounds pretty
much the same.

The album consists of themes describing how Baby’s life was before he started to pursue rap.
For example, in the song “Commercial,” he utters, “I done got rich, I done put on my mans
Choppas in traffic, that's just how I'm livin'.” Baby is referring to how he has made it in life, and
now he can help his friends succeed as well, and that no matter how rich or famous he gets, he
will always have to watch his back and stay on his guard. Even though there is nothing out of the
ordinary on this song, it is one of the most popular on the album because of the high energy that
Lil Baby and Lil Uzi Vert carry on this track. This is done with many of his songs to create a
higher quality sound.

Although his album restates his street life in many different ways, he digs a little deeper in some
of his songs. For example, in “Grace,” he says, “Thou shall not try one of us, if they do, I'ma
bust, Please don't reach for no chain, Not 'bout the set, but it's more 'bout respect.” Here Baby
signifies that he cares more about respect than gang affiliations now, which shows internalized
growth and change.

On “Emotionally Scarred,” Baby speaks on the heartbreak that he has been going through; “A
love letter came through the mail, it said, ‘I miss you,’ I ripped it up and flushed with the tissue,
try to forget you, I ain't got nothing against you, we human, we all got issues.” This verse
emphasizes his heartbreak and feelings of empathy at the same time. He is traumatized from this
experience, and from then on is emotionless to hide from the pain and suffering that is caused to
him.

Some people believe that My Turn was nothing out of the ordinary; Sheldon Pearce, the author of
the My Turn review on Pitchfork, speaks on the album's consistency and expected references. He
offers the point of view that Lil Baby is offering the same types of beats and ideologies of his
street life. When looking upon songs that offer more emotional appeal, like “Emotionally
Scarred,” Pearce argues that Baby is “trying to tell a story here, but he’s just not much of a
storyteller.” He sees Lil Baby’s My Turn as “all work and no inspiration.”

Moreover, in Rolling Stone’s review of My Turn, Danny Schwartz speaks on how he believes Lil
Baby is a natural at making hits, but he is not unique at all. Schwartz reacts to Lil Baby saying
that his music had gotten 20 times better with, “this is demonstrably untrue. If anything, his floor
has simply risen.” He is saying that Lil Baby has gotten better at not making bad songs. On the
other hand, Schwartz states that he believes the album “showcases” Baby’s talent and goes on to
list examples of his attributes throughout the album. He points out that it is effortless for Lil
Baby to get radio play from the songs in this album and is not lying when he says that Baby will
be “a staple of Atlanta rap for years to come.”

Lil Baby’s Album My Turn is now available on all streaming platforms. Lil baby has also
released a deluxe album almost a month after the release of My Turn. Fans seemed to love the
deluxe as well as the album, which resulted in the album being in the top six on billboard charts
for 13 consecutive weeks and returned to number one for five straight weeks. After the release of
his album, Lil Baby has appeared on numerous features throughout 2020 and has dominated the
rap game. According to his social media posts, he currently has some new music in the works
and is keeping his fans on their toes for what is to come.
 Works Cited

Adler, Dan. “Lil Baby Is Dominating 2020. He May Finally Be OK With That.” Vanity Fair, 8
Oct. 2020, www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/10/lil-baby-interview.

Alvarez, Lauren. “Why Drake's 'So Far Gone' Is Still So Influential 10 Years Later.” Forbes,
Forbes Magazine, 1 Mar. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/laurenalvarez/2019/02/28/why-
drakes-so-far-gone-is-still-so-influential-10-years-later/?sh=729ac15547cd.

Baby, Lil. “It Was Fun While It Lasted 💰 No More Features from Lil Baby ✌🏽 #Albummode.”
Twitter, Twitter, 11 Nov. 2020, twitter.com/lilbaby4PF/status/1326367683680620544.

Caramanica, Jon. “Lil Uzi Vert, a Hip-Hop Star Beyond Gatekeepers.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 23 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/arts/music/lil-uzi-vert-
eternal-atake-review.html.

Carmichael, Rodney. “Culture Wars.” NPR, NPR, 15 Mar. 2017,

www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/03/15/520133445/culture-wars-trap-innovation-
atlanta-hip-hop.

Caulfield, Keith. “Lil Baby's 'My Turn' Hits Fifth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart.”
Billboard, 9 July 2020, www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9413633/lil-baby-
my-turn-fifth-week-number-1-billboard-200.

Coscarelli, Joe. “Lil Baby Might Be Rap's Most Reluctant New Star.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 26 Feb. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/arts/music/lil-baby-my-
turn.html.

Coscarelli, Joe. “Rap Trio Migos Cracks the Code to a No. 1 Hit, One Drop at a Time.” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2017,
www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/arts/music/migos-culture-bad-boujee-interview.html.

Pearce, Sheldon. “Lil Baby: My Turn.” Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 4 Mar. 2020,

pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lil-baby-my-turn/.

Roti, Jessi. “Lollapalooza 2019 Hosts 400,000 People; Ends with One Death, 31 Arrests and 116
Emergency Transports.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2019,
www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/lollapalooza/ct-ent-lollapalooza-2019-weekend-
hospital-transports-arrests-0805-20190805-xc2thommmvbdfltk22psbb5zvi-story.html.

Schwartz, Danny. “Lil Baby Proves Why He's Atlanta Rap's Biggest Recent Success Story on
'My Turn'.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2020,
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/lil-baby-my-turn-961568/.
Sisario, Ben. “Travis Scott Debuts at No. 1 and Apple Notches Another Win.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 12 Sept. 2016,
www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/arts/music/travis-scott-apple-billboard-chart.html.