(hiphop music)
- My brother from another mother,
DaBaby is now officially in the buildin'.
What's happenin'?
- What's goin' on, how you doin' man?
- Four nominations, sir.
Are you excited?
- I am, you know what I mean, I am.
It's like wakin' up, it's just always a pleasure to be
you know, to be recognized, you know what I mean,
for the work that's put in,
you know I never get to wrapped up in any of it.
You know what I mean, I just like, just keep workin'
and just excel, just get better,
get better and get better every time, you know what I mean?
So to have songs like, especially what,
now I am excited about the music video.
- Um, Viewers Choice Award
- Yeah, I'm excited about
that award - and Video of the Year.
- I'm more excited about that award than anything else,
really, just because I feel like,
when it come to like, music videos,
nowadays, what me and my team do,
like what we bring to the table man, is different.
I feel like it's not goin' off,
I feel like it's what the game's been missin'
for a while, too, you know as far as music videos.
So I'm super excited about that one, for sure,
'cause that's somethin' that I know,
you know what I mean, we got a grasp on that
when it comes to music videos,
like I know these videos different,
you know what I mean? So it's just good.
- I would also say you got a different grasp on how you
relate to your fans.
I've been watchin' you the whole time,
like with you leaving sneakers in places
for people to come find
and how accessible you are to your fans.
Why did you choose to go that route?
Not everybody does that.
- It's been like that from the beginnin' too,
you know I just feel like that's what keep you grounded
as a person, I know it does me personally,
like I ain't never really been too big
on like what I do for me.
I like impacting other people.
You know what I mean, that's just what I'm about.
You know, to see somethin' so simple that I can do,
make somebody day, change they life down there,
you know what I mean?
I'm always all about it, man,
it's just, you know, that's what keep me goin'.
- So not only nominated for four BET Awards,
Best Male Hiphop Artist, Video of the Year for Bop,
Album of the Year for Kirk,
and Viewers Choice Award for Bop.
You're also performin'.
Has it been hard for you to have just released
that Kirk project and that have
the world basically shut down?
You just, you worked so hard to put this album together.
Was it hard for you to have to sit down and chill out,
knowin' that you just had this new project come out
and knowin' you wanted to share it
the way you wanted to share it?
- As far as the project that I put out,
yeah, it was definitely, I mean, yeah, more challengin'
to be able to put music out
and the way you market your music
and they way you move it around yeah, for sure.
'Cause I'd have been in front of thousands of people,
every single night, you get what I'm sayin'?
Like, lotta people to see me perform these new songs,
so everything, so it woulda resinated completely different,
you know what I mean?
That's when the real work come in anyways,
after you released it, you know what I mean?
So it definitely affected some of the ways
that I would usually go about,
you know what I mean, puttin' the music out,
but we still weathered the storm.
I went, number one Billboard Hot 100 during the pandemic,
you get what I'm sayin', so you know,
I ain't really trippin' at all.
And at the same time, it was somewhat of a blessing
in disguise, 'cause it was a much needed break
for artists that was movin' the way I was movin'.
Outta the 365 days of the year last year,
I was probably home maybe 30 days outta 365 days.
- You was out there gettin' it.
- I was, you know what I mean?
I did the most you could do during that,
you know what I mean?
Going' number one, Hot 100, everything.
A lotta people who ain't never had a Billboard number one
song, you know what I mean, legends,
that ain't never had, people I look at as legends,
you know what I mean?
It's been an eventful year, to say the least, man.
- We got some people from your part of the country,
'bout to pull up in here.
My brother, No Limit Larry.
- Yes sir, what's up Tig?
(laughs)
What's up Baby? What's up Baby?
You already know what's goin' on.
You know we out here in this community
each and every day, you recently hosted a big forum,
Black Lives been Matterin' with the mayor
with some police officers, some politicians,
all in the city.
I was there one night, and I saw the police harass you
for no reason, what do you think it's gonna take
for Black people and police to improve their relations?
- I think first and foremost,
they gotta start with them holdin' themselves accountable.
You know, for the way that they do,
approach Black people in the way that they do,
you know what I mean?
Deal with Black people, they gotta hold theyself accountable
first and understand it is really a, you know,
it's really a thing, you know, that's really how they
rot, and that's how a lotta officers feel like
they're supposed to operate, you know what I'm sayin'?
So today you know, holdin' themselves responsible
for the way that they set up
when it come to dealin' with African Americans.
I don't think nothin' can change,
they gotta be first thing first.
Even the way you deal with people in court.
They way you deal with Black people in court
as opposed to the way you deal with white people in court,
that got a lot to do with it too,
because that's why officers feel so compelled to move
like that, 'cause they know the way that the system
is set up as a whole, like it's gonna lean in they favor.
You know what I mean, more often than not.
- We got my man, Brian Dawson, K97.5, up there in Raleigh.
- Just wanna tap into Baby, what up dawg?
- What's up with it B-dawg?
- Ah, thank you for that love you show my son Chase
at the last basketball game, I think,
that's ever been played, back in March.
I appreciate that, man.
I see you take a lotta pictures with your family, man.
What does family mean to you
and especially what have you learned about yourself
as a artist in this pandemic.
- Family mean everything to me,
I'm real big on family, takin' care of family.
Make sure everybody straight,
make sure everybody in a position to win
and to do what they wanna do,
you know what I mean?
Like I just try to be a positive influence on my family,
you know, takin' care of my kids, you know
they're super duper important to me,
and makin' sure all the kids in the family taken care of,
and being brought up the right way.
What I learned about myself as an artist during the pandemic
is that I'm capable of having, not only the hottest song
in American, but in the UK, Canada, what else, bro?
Australia, you know what I mean?
A cross over track, Tigger.
It slowed the world down, and it slowed me down enough
to be able to you know, the market,
tap into another market, you get what I'm sayin'?
You know, I just learned how to attack different avenues.
You know what I mean?
And flourish in them, too.
- New clothin' line, you made Rockstar for me,
Rockstar Radio, talk about that clothin' line.
- Billion Dollar Baby Clothing, man it's goin' crazy.
It's gonna be in, it's already 100s of retail stores,
you know what I mean, across the country,
that's been already tapped into.
We're gonna do an online release in July.
It's gonna be so big, I haven't even really been,
I ain't even really tapped me in on like,
puttin' it out there,
'cause I just know organically it's gonna be great.
- Last, but certainly not least,
from Greensboro, my man Big Mo from 102 Jamz.
G-boro, Big Mo, what's happenin' out there?
- What up, what up, I said, what up Baby?
And for my people in this market, you know what I'm sayin',
he knows a lotta people in the triad around here,
that tryin' to rap,
can you please tell the importance of relationships
to DJs and the personalities and what they need to do?
Please?
- I got where I'm at, you know what I'm sayin'?
I got where I'm at, you know, pretty much,
is what I was sayin' in the beginning of this.
This is Radio Room, probably everybody who's watchin' this
know how to establish some kind of relationship with,
so and it's like one of the most important things
I feel like artists can do, especially on the way up,
if you, you know what I mean,
on the way up, the relationships you establish early on,
that's what's gonna keep you successful in the game
once you get there, you know what I'm sayin'?
It ain't no skippin' no steps like,
a lotta these people are, like everybody play
an important position, if you get what I'm sayin'.
It's a machine, this a machine, I mean,
one part ain't right and it ain't right,
so the relationships you establish early on
that's what's gonna keep you flowin'.
- All right DaBaby, let me get you outta here on this.
Tell us somethin' people don't know about DaBaby.
We all learned not to run up on you in the mall.
Tell us somethin' about DaBaby we don't know.
- I don't know, the world say they know me,
somethin' y'all don't know about me, man.
That's a good question to end with.
Man you made me think a little bit.
You can expect to see me in movies soon, let's say that.
- Are you excited about that?
- Yeah, the box office.
- All right, that's what's happenin'.
Well, listen, congratulations on your four nominations.
Stay up bro, stay outta trouble
and I'll holler at you soon.
- You know that-
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