DELISA: Charlotte, North Carolina rapper Dababy’s
braggadocious flow has scored him a Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit in “Suge” and a no.1
album on the Billboard 200, solidifying his entry into the mainstream.
But it’s really his video game like beats and comical flow that’s grabbing people’s attention.
DELISA: DaBaby knows what it takes to make a hit.
Tracks like “21,” “Suge,” “Goin Baby,” and “BOP” all feature heavy 808s
laid down by South Carolina producer Jetsonmade - something he told us is a regional connection.
JETSON: When he puts his sound, and puts it
with what I do on the beats, it's a whole new sound.
DELISA: Drums make Jetson’s sound so singular
- and the fans have definitely noticed.
JETSON: That’s like one of my signature
things, like in every one of my beats, I switch up the 808.
I just like to give it different sauce.
JETSON: I meant to do that.
I want to do that. I want you to be in a mood when you listen to my music.
I’m doing me forever.
If it sound the same, it sound the same.
DELISA: That sauce allows DaBaby to flow freely
on the track and showcase his North Carolina roots.
JETSON: I’ma give some jolly type beats
to a person who gon rap trap.
I feel like that’s the Carolina sound.
It’s just perfect.
It's a perfect blend.
DELISA: And while fans think the songs sound
similar, DaBaby’s flow definitely isn’t.
JASPER: It's crazy.
It's actually more complicated than we think.
DELISA: That’s Jasper Lee Harris, one of
the producers on “VIBEZ.”
He spoke with Genius News to break down the track and the foundation for DaBaby’s flow.
JASPER: Jetson's 808s...
so he's holding down the regular meter, right?
One, two, three, one, two, three, four.
JASPER: But my thing is one, two, three, one,
two, three, four, five.
JASPER: So it's the juxtaposition of those
two things that make it such a sort of attention-grabby concept.
DELISA: The way DaBaby settles into his flow on tracks like these is why Jetson and Jasper
think it works.
JASPER: He's making it part of his signature sound, which I think is really cool.
[JETSON] That was just an automatic jiggy.
DELISA: That off-kilter sound allows DaBaby
to do what he does best -- attack the beat.
JASPER: He has all these pregnant pauses in
his music where it's like, you know, there's a breath and then he's in.
Right?
And it's sort of flipping the whole drop concept on its head.
DELISA: Another way DaBaby sets himself apart
is his take on the triplet flow.
The flow itself isn’t new, pioneered by fellow southern artist Three Six Mafia and
later used by the Migos, but Jasper explains, that paired with the intricate beats, DaBaby’s
triplet becomes unique.
JASPER: He's rapping in subdivisions or groups
of three and six and 12, which is a play off the three-three-two, or the three-five, you
know what I mean?
JASPER: So there's all this interplay that's
happening that totally goes over the listener's head.
DELISA: That rhyming pattern made him the go-to collaborator for a number of summer
tracks like Megan Thee Stalllion’s “Cash Shit,” Chance The Rapper’s “Hot Shower”
and his verse on Dreamville’s “Under The Sun.”
DELISA: So far DaBaby has had a massive 2019 and it’s clear that his sound and his confidence
are helping him pave his own lane in the game.
DABABY: Goin baby is just doing anything exceedingly well.
That’s just what I stood on even before doing music.
Like, anything I would do like, I wanna do it better than anybody.
DELISA: I’m Delisa with Genius News bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the music.