Lil Baby sparks debate with contentious top five Atlanta rappers list
Lil Baby has appeared on many podcasts in recent months and has been making a lot of noise in the scene. The Atlanta emcee has been heavily promoting his latest album, WHAM, and during several appearances he has illuminated fans about what he believes concerning the current state of hip-hop.
One of the podcasts Lil Baby decided to appear on was the DeepCut podcast hosted by VicBlends, and during their conversation, VicBlends asked Lil Baby to do one of the most contentious things possible: to name his top five MCs from Atlanta.
Atlanta has been the beating heart of hip-hop for the past decade and has arguably been the city with the most prominent artists since 2012. Although last year saw Kendrick Lamar and Tyler The Creator bring some attention to LA with GNX and Chromakopia, that is definitely a recent and small detail in the grand scheme of things.
One sensation Atalanta produced in the late 2010s was Lil Baby, and while speaking with VicBlends, he was asked to name four MCs, including himself, to make his top five. Of course, his response set the internet alight with dissent and rivalling opinions.
Lil Baby didn’t want to be the obnoxious, self-aggrandising emcee who puts himself above everyone else, so he put himself at the bottom of the list in fifth place. Still, he had a lot of names to choose from for his top four and, of course, was bound to upset somebody.
He began, “That’s hard cause I don’t know how to rank myself.” But eventually settled for five. From there, however, the rapper ranked four MCs he considered the most legendary placing Playboi Carti in fourth, 21 Savage in third, Young Thug in second and Future as the best and most iconic emcee from Atlanta.
Notably, Lil Baby didn’t consider a member of the Migos or André 3000. As per usual, he gave notable shoutouts to these individuals. Appearing on Lil Yachty’s A Safe Place podcast, Lil Baby insisted that his age and taste in music will always be a factor in how he views his fellow rappers, stating that “I’m always gonna look at certain stuff a certain way. It boils down to what we rapping about… We can’t rap about that if you did that. If I was making Christmas music, then I don’t give a damn what you did.”
Lil Baby’s DeepCut list prompted fans to take to social media with different versions of their own list, with some including artists such as Killer Mike and Ludacris due to their respect and tenure in the game.