TIA: In a world of ever-changing rap names, there’s one moniker that MCs have loved
for years, and that’s “baby.”
TIA: In some cases, the name just means they run with an older crowd…
LIL BABY: I hang around a whole lot of older dudes, so they just hit me with Lil Baby
I'm the youngest out the crew.
TIA: Or they’re literally the baby of their family.
INTERVIEWER: You the youngest outta all your siblings?
DABABY: Yeah, I’m the baby forreal.
TIA: Today, there are plenty of babies on the charts, so we decided to take a look back
at some of our favorites.
TIA: First up, Africa Baby Bam from the Jungle Brothers who took his name as an homage to
Afrika Bambaataa.
TIA: Bursting onto the scene in 1988 with their first release, ‘Straight Out The Jungle,’
the Jungle Brothers, along with buddies like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest,
paved the way for hip-hop’s free spirits.
TIA: Next up, one of the most famous and the first babies in hip-hop, Cash Money CEO
Bryan “Birdman” Williams aka “Baby.”
And the story behind *his* nickname is pretty straightforward.
FRIEND: Everybody used to go to her, Ms. Gladys what’s his name?
She said, Baby.
Two three weeks after that she came up with a name she said his name was Brian.
But ain’t nobody call him Brian because everybody knowed him as Baby.
TIA: In 1992, Birdman and his brother turned business partner Ronald “Slim” Williams
established Cash Money Records, which became home to superstar artists like Lil Wayne,
who also began as a Baby--Baby D, before changing his rap name.
And his Young Money imprint eventually housed Drake and Nicki Minaj.
BIRDMAN: I got the rap game on lock, you must know that first.
Can’t nothing and nobody fade what we tryna do and what we bout to do.
TIA: Birdman’s own rap career, both as a solo artist and as one half of the duo Big Tymers,
garnered him a total of 22 Hot 100 hits.
TIA: But as the decade rolled along, there was yet another “baby” in Birdman’s
clique, Cash Money affiliate and Hot Boys member, B.G. aka Baby Gangsta.
B.G: I ain't realize being a rapper was what I wanted to do but Baby had started Cash Money Records.
He came in the barber shop one day and was like spit somethin’ for me so I spit somethin’
for him and he told me to come hop in the car with him.
TIA: The Hot Boys consisted of B.G., Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk, all under Cash Money and
its CEO: “Baby.”
Of their three studio albums, two of them, ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ and ‘Let ‘Em Burn,’
landed on the Billboard 200 chart, with the former going Platinum.
TIA: But as Cash Money’s babies took over the charts through the late 90s and early
2000s, a few other babies made it into the mainstream as well.
TIA: There was Baby Bash, originally known as Baby Beesh, who eventually racked up 7
Hot 100 hits by the mid-2000s.
BASH: Most people call me Bash, I pretty much roll with the Bash.
If you wanna get technical it’s Baby Bash but I was Baby Beesh before all that.
Baby Beeshy love my chicken greasy.
TIA: The 90s also gave us Oakland rapper Baby DC, who was just twelve years old when he
signed to Too Short’s label, Short Records, in 1998.
TIA: Then there was Baby Stace, Ma$e’s twin sister and the only female member in the group
Harlem World, a New York rap crew that included Ma$e, their brother Blinky Blink, Loon, Meeno,
Suga J, Cardan and the late Huddy Combs.
TIA: They released their first and only album ‘The Movement’ in 1999.
TIA: By 2000, there was Atlanta’s Baby D, who came into the game with his debut album,
‘Off Da Chain.’
TIA: And New Orleans rapper and No Limit Records signee Baby Boy Da Prince, whose debut studio
album, ‘Across The Water,’ peaked at #6 on the Top Rap Albums chart.
TIA: And while the 90s and the early 2000s seemed to have plenty of “baby” rappers,
the game remained largely unchanged until the following decade.
TIA: Today, the babies are taking over the charts faster than ever, from Florida’s Bhad Bhabie...
TIA: To Atlanta’s SahBabii.
SAHBABII: I got the name SahBabii from my auntie her name T-Babii.
So she had just put the baby behind my name and I got that name when I was real little.
TIA: Other notable babies include…
Baby Soulja,
Sada Baby,
Baby Keem,
Yung Baby Tate,
Bali Baby,
Baby Goth,
Baby E,
BBG Baby Joe,
Baby Jayy,
Smoovie Baby,
Big Baby Scumbag,
Big Baby Gandhi,
the late Baby Ahk, and a number of others.
TIA: So, who’s your favorite baby?
I’m Tia with Genius News bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the music.
BABY: Yo when my name come up, respeck it. Stop playing with my fuckin' name.
You understand me? When y'all sayin' my name put some respeck on it.
I ain't got no more talkin'. Let's rock.