Okay.
What's going on there?
A guy is trespassing on my property.
Hurry up and get here.
Sir what did you do?
I shot him in his leg.
Ok... and why did you do that?
He's trespassing on my property.
Calling me by my name.
This moment couldn't have come at a better time for Dababy.
Six days before this incident, Dababy, who appeared to be
very intoxicated, was caught up with a group of people outside of a club.
Dababy targeted one woman and grabbed her face and made an attempt to kiss her.
And it didn't go well.
Dababy was left looking stupid as the woman denied the kiss.
Dababy then went on Instagram and defended himself,
saying he didn't attempt to kiss her.
And then later he hopped on the comment section
of the Shade Room and apologized to the lady
after The Shade Room made a post about the incident.
These two moments encapsulate the ongoing controversies surrounding DaBaby,
and it has been that way ever since the rapper became mainstream.
There was a time not too long ago when DaBaby was celebrated
as the best rapper in the world.
But as he keeps digging a hole for himself, DaBaby's rap career is slowly
becoming irrelevant as he is becoming more of a meme than a rapper.
It seems as if every week DaBaby is on the news
for getting caught up in terrible situations.
And while that may seem like an exaggeration, it's unfortunately not.
In April alone, Dababy has done something newsworthy,
every week.
On April seven, a clip went viral when Dababy attempted to kiss a fan.
Then next week, Dababy allegedly shoots an intruder in the leg at his North
Carolina home.
April 22nd, Dababy was seen backstage at the Summer Jam
2022 concert, where he sucker punches his own artist "Wisdom".
One thing is for sure
Dababy is the king of getting into controversy,
and for a while it has helped him grow as an artist,
as he unintentionally and intentionally
used it as a way to make a name for himself.
Like how he rose to popularity due to the 2018 Walmart
shooting in Huntersville, North Carolina, which left a 19 year old shot
and killed by Dababy who ran up on him in allegedly was a fan of the baby.
What followed was the release of his 2019 debut album, "Baby
on Baby", which quickly became successful due to the interest of the baby.
After the Walmart shooting that happened a couple of months
before the album's release, or if we go back a year before
the Walmart incident when an irrelevant Dababy wore a diaper
at the South by Southwest Music Festival with the intent to cause controversy,
which worked as he became a local buzz in North Carolina after that.
But we'll get more into that later in the video.
Fast forward a couple of years.
You have the baby as one of the biggest rappers
in the world right now who became popular for his precise and brutal rapping style.
The baby and his three years of mainstream success has already received eight
Grammy nominations, certified platinum records and billions of streams
to add to his ever growing legacy of an artist.
But despite the impressive achievements he has accumulated over his short career,
there's been a noticeable shift going on for Dababy as he has become
one of the most hated rappers, partly due to the homophobic comments
Dababy made at a rolling loud performance in July of 2021.
AIDS, any of them deadly s**** transmitted diseases, that'll make you die
2-3 weeks, put a cell phone light in the air
Ladies, if your p***y smell water...
Put a cellphone light in the air
Fellas,
Lights up, fellas, if you ain't suck a n**** d****
in the parking lot, put your cellphone lights in the air
Let's be real about that s***
Yea keep it f***** real.
Some of yall n***** suspect as a mother*****
Let's be real
While the cancelation of DaBaby was very brief and quickly put behind
most people, the repercussion was still felt by Dababy as popular music
figures spoke out against DaBaby's comments, including superstar Dua LIPA,
who's made the Mega-Popular song levitating that Dababy hopped on.
It was in fact, this song that gave a huge boost
to Dababy as an artist, and it gave Dababy new fans from across the world.
Since Dua Lipa is a worldwide-known artist.
This helped Dababy
pass hip hop legend Drake in Spotify monthly listeners back in May 2021.
But that moment was short lived as Lil Nas X took his spot,
which is ironic since the baby who made the homophobic comment
got passed by Lil Nas, who is an openly gay artist.
From that point on, his multiple listeners have been on a steady decline
as of lately.
It's highly unlikely that Dababy will work with Dua Lipa.
Judging by her comments on the situation and that can go for other popular artists
that the baby could have potentially work with her at the same level as Dua LIPA.
Popular clothing brand Schuman announced that they parted ways with the baby
just days after their first collaborative project,
which was their response for the rolling, loud incident.
The opportunities and money that the baby has lost out on is something
other hip hop artists from this generation would love to have or can't have.
He was even working with the NBA at one point,
and it's not like the baby is stupid.
Judging by multiple interviews he's done in the past,
he seems self-aware and knows what he's doing.
So why is he quickly become this widely hated celebrity as of recently?
Well, the answer to that actually starts at the beginning of his rap career.
By the time Dababy was in his mid-twenties,
he starts again to the local rap scene.
This is when he adopted the stage name Baby Jesus.
And it was sort of a way for him to get viral early on.
DaBaby: I think I'm Baby Jesus
I feel
like I can walk on water.
He went on.
Interview runs during 2016 with intention to grow as an artist,
but failed to garner the attention
he wanted as he would be overshadowed by other rappers in interviews.
So it was around this time that the baby had to do something different
that would make him stand out and blow up, even if the consequences
were harsh.
*murmuring*
DaBaby: DaBaby, DaBaby, DaBaby, DaBaby
This took place at the South by Southwest Festival in 2017,
and it was the first of many viral moments for Dababy.
The stunt garnered mixed reactions.
People pointed out
that it was very innovative of him to do a stunt like that and take a risk
while others saw him as a corny rapper who sold his soul.
However, he did start to gain notoriety,
at least in the local scene, into Dababy's credit.
This went exactly how he wanted it to go.
DaBaby: Lotta people like, "Man you tripping."
And I'm like, Nigga, that shit is going go...
viral.
Bruh like. I'm like, "That shit gon go viral nigga like, watch."
That's how I'm talking about it, like it did exactly what I knew it was going to do.
DJ Vlad: You were trolling basically.
DaBaby: Naw i dont troll.
DJ Vlad: I mean tha-
DaBaby: Cuz I didn't put it I didn't put it on the Internet.
DJ Vlad: But you knew was going to get on the Internet.
DaBaby: Oh, yeah. For sho.
DJ Vlad: I mean you know, trolling is a general kind of term.
DaBaby: Nah I was marketing.
DJ Vlad: Okay.
DaBaby: That's what I was doing.
DJ Vlad: Which is also- trolling is marketing these days.
DaBaby: Trolling is continuously going it.
Officially Ronny: In baby's case. This was a smart move since his stage name was Baby
Jesus at the time, and it didn't stop there.
He carried the diaper image
on to an interview with BuckTV, which garnered half a million views.
Why is that important?
Well, if you go to a previous Dababy interview from the same YouTube channel,
you see that his interviews gained a few views.
But the one video that has over 2 million views wasn't even Dababy's interview.
Although he was there,
the baby was barely asked questions and wasn't the focus of the interview
compared to the rapper Ralo,
who is more known in the rap game at the time,
which explains why he was the main focus.
Dababy was a nobody one year prior.
All that changed when Dababy simply wore a diaper.
So while he was clowned everywhere on social media
for wearing a diaper and even losing some people from his team.
He still got what he wanted at the end of the day, which was virality.
But as his name got bigger, he dropped the baby
Jesus name, saying it was too distracting from his art.
Eventually, he was spotted by Arnold Taylor of the South
Coast Music Group label, who happened to be one of the biggest radio promoters
in the South. Taylor decides to help Dababy get the ball rolling.
He was making noise radio
stations, clubs and even small college parties playing songs.
In all this led to a lot of buzz surrounding Dababy thanks to Taylor.
Dababy's
mixtapes were among
the most popular in the region, but it wasn't enough for him to pop up
into the mainstream.
Dababy was still
looked at as a corny rapper because of the diaper incident,
and he needed to get away from the incident
so he could achieve mainstream success.
That's when the Walmart shooting that we talked about earlier came along perfectly
because the diaper situation was now
put behind the baby since the Walmart shooting had more coverage.
Therefore, new people discovering him didn't know about the diaper thing,
which meant more music plays for Dababy and big labels looking to sign him.
The rest was history as he signed with Interscope Records and capitalized
with the studio debut album Baby on Baby, which was released in 2019.
And it was an instant success.
It reached number seven on the Billboard 200 in a single.
From the album, Shug reached number seven on the Hot 100.
But it was around this time when things took a sharp turn for Dababy's
personal life while he got the good news about his album Success.
Shortly after, he also got the news that his dad had passed away.
This moment could be the point when all hell broke loose for Dababy
because after his dad's death, the altercations he's gotten into
have noticeably increased.
Like this fight which took place at the Louis Vuitton
store in 2019 when the late North Carolina rapper who went by "Cam Coldheart"
was baiting Dababy until Dababy allegedly beat him up.
DaBaby: Huh Cam Coldheart?!
I'm the truth, nigga. Knocked him out!
Me. Dolo. I'm the truth.
Quit playing with me boy.
Pick your pants up nigga. F*** is you talking about nigga.
Officially Ronny: Let's take a look at another one.
In March 2020, Dababy was sued for slapping a female fan at a Tampa Bay
concert.
According to Dababy,
a fan pushed her phone to his face that was on flashlight mode
and that caused them to respond with force.
In the moments before the Slap,
the fan had been waving her phone at the rapper
in order to get a photograph with him.
After the assault, the crowd started booing at Dababy.
It apparently got so bad that the show was canceled before it even began.
In The Rapper left without performing a single song.
Then there's the bowling alley fight that happened in early 2020
to Brandon Bills, who is the brother of popular singer
DaniLeigh, was caught up in a brawl with Dababy and his crew,
which left Brandon with a bloodied face after getting hit and his hair pulled.
The incident stems from the baby
getting into an altercation with Danny Lee at his home back in November 2021.
Dababy took to Instagram live and recorded the argument between them.
DaBaby: ain't never been my girl
is my side b****
DaniLeigh: Is your what?
DaBaby: My side b****. Shorty is a certified side b****
DaBaby: Not mine.
DaniLeigh: ...embarrassing me like that.
DaBaby: Shorty is a certified side b****
DaniLeigh: Shut up!
DaniLeigh: Get off of me!
DaBaby: Let's take it there.
Her parents know she my side b****, everybody knows she's a side b****
DaniLeigh: Oh my god.
DaBaby: She don't want yall to know she a side b****.
Officially Ronny: Dababy then called the police on Dani,
who was then charged with two assault charges
for using her hands, feet and teeth while allegedly fighting the rapper.
Hours after the charges, DaniLeigh's brother
jumped on his Instagram and posted a video challenging the baby to a fight.
Brandon: This n**** want to call the cops on my sis.
This n**** want to disrespect my sister online
for the world to see, disrespect my family.
And I'm saying this, don't even got nothing to do with my sister no more, bro.
This got to do with me and you.
You feel me cause you mister tough guy over here.
beating up b*****
knocking little, little guys out here and there.
you know i'm saying. You not going to do that to me.
First off.
Officially Ronny: The popular media company The Shade Room reposted Brandon's Instagram video on their page.
Dababy saw it and simply responded with the hugging smiley face emoji.
Brandon then doubled down in a TMZ interview
a few days later, saying that he'll knock out Dababy in a fight.
The result Dababy and a group of people who were a part of his
team took on the helpless Brandon and senselessly beat him up.
All of these events I listed happened under three years
and most are arguably reasonable for Dababy.
When he fought the rapper Cam Coldheart at the mall, we saw Dababy minding his business
and he was Cam Coldheart, starting the trouble
which led to him getting knocked out when Dababy slapped a fan in the face.
You can argue that it was self-defense since it did seem like
the fan was attacking him from his point of view.
The question now is how long will Dababy keep defending himself from the troubles
he encounters?
Popular hip hop YouTuber
BlackySpeakz made a great point in 2019 saying this about Dababy.
BlackySpeakz: But I do think it's a very bad sign when a compilation of your most
gangsta moments gets 4 million views on YouTube in two months.
What does this right here tell you?
Well, it tells me that
people are paying attention
to your antics outside of the music as much as the music itself.
They don't like you as a person.
They like the activities you are partaking in
because those activities are entertaining for the gram (Instagram).
Officially Ronny: Remember this video was posted back in 2019, way before incidents
like the homophobic situation
and in recent news, the shooting that took place at the baby's $2 million mansion.
There's been discussion on the Internet
that these controversies Dababy surrounds himself with are just for publicity.
If you notice before the release of an album, Dababy gets caught in some trouble.
Like when Dababy smacked a woman at a nightclub in March 2020,
and then less than a month later, he dropped his Blame It on Baby album,
or when he shot and killed a guy at Walmart.
And a few months later, he dropped his studio debut album in 2019.
Coincidence? Probably not.
But you never know.
Since Dababy has been giving us hints that his actions were planned,
like his diaper video, which obviously helped him
tremendously and put him in the position he is in today.
These controversial moments are helping Dababy trend at the moment,
but for how long?
He isn't in high demand for features anymore, as the buzz he once had is slowly
fading into, Dababy is now going viral for everything but music.
Before Dababy was a marketing genius with the diaper stunt being a prime example.
But at this moment, his marketing scheme is now in question,
as it hasn't been translating into his music
with the collaborative album with NBA YoungBoy being an example.
In a Dababy interview on March 2022, he said, no collab project
since Kanye West and Jay-Z's
"Watch the Throne" is, quote on quote f***** around with his and NBA YoungBoy's
"Better than You" album, only for it to reach 29,000 sales first week.
That and the album selling lower than the rising rapper Yeat's second studio album.
Now, we can't use numbers to say this is a failure, but as of currently,
you don't hear the album being talked about a lot.
Two songs from the Better Than You album have been trending on Tik Tok for a bit,
but haven't lived up to the baby's "Watch The Throne" level expectations so far.
Could this be an indicator for how the baby's next album will perform?
Who knows?
Young Boy dropped a mixtape the same year better than you dropped
and did way better in terms of first week sales.
But that's different since YoungBoy is known to have a cult following.
I mean, do you see what he is going on in social media?
The amount of YoungBoy fans across social media is crazy.
Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube you name it.
They will go out of their way to let everybody know
how much better YoungBoy is than everybody.
DaBaby simply doesn't have that strong of a fan base.
And with this generation of hip hop music in general being quantity
over quality, this generation can forget you in an instant.
There's multiple examples of this.
Basically
what matters is the music right now, and that's just how it's been for a while.
For DaBaby, it's not just the music.
It's the trouble he gets into as well.
And at this rate,
it won't be surprising that in the near future
there could be some very unfortunate news regarding DaBaby.
But as of now, we'll just have to see how things play out for him.