Credit: Spotify

There were a couple of years where it was impossible to escape DaBaby. Everything he made turned to gold after capturing hip-hop’s attention with his 2019 hit, ‘Suge’. He landed many Hot 100 charts in the years following, including ‘Bop’, ‘Intro’, ‘Vibez’, and his Roddy Ricch collaboration, ‘Rockstar’, which reached number one in the US.

His brand of rap pulls from many different inspirations. DaBaby was born in 1991, with most of his earliest musical memories coming in the 2000s. It was a time when 50 Cent was buzzing with Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and Eminem was becoming one of the biggest rappers on the planet. For most people around his age, it’s a familiar story.

“I’ve been in Charlotte since I was six years old, I’m 27 now,” he told Billboard. “Anybody [for] my age really, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Eminem, Nelly, and those kind of people in the know. The list goes on. With my childhood, there was such a mixture of music that was hot.”

DaBaby was once stubborn about who influenced him, but with age came the realisation that he wouldn’t have a career without some of those chart-topping names. “I really pulled from all of that,” he said. “I only know that now because I can look back on it. Years ago, I would’ve only named a couple people, but when I think about it, I realise everyone [who influenced me] because of where I’m at with my career.”

Despite being from Charlotte, North Carolina, DaBaby never knew of any local rappers. “There really wasn’t one,” he admitted. “I didn’t know of any rappers in Charlotte. Not to sound like I’m bragging, but I brought the music scene alive and shed the proper light on it. I took it to a whole other level when I started rapping.”

In recent years, he hasn’t quite been the buzzing name he once was. It’s a combination of his captivating style becoming the norm and being cancelled for homophobic and misogynistic comments. During his performance at Rolling Loud in Miami in 2021, DaBaby said, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS… put your cellphone light up. Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cellphone light up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone light up.”

He later apologised, writing on social media, “Anybody who done ever been effected [sic] by AIDS/HIV y’all got the right to be upset,” he wrote. “What I said was insensitive even though I have no intentions on offending anybody. So my apologies. But the LGBT community … I ain’t trippin on y’all, do you. y’all business is y’all business.” However it wasn’t enough to redeem himself.

One of his heroes, 50 Cent, was there to defend him in his time of need. “He just transitioned from being in that pool that everyone’s in, as a rap artist,” he said. “They didn’t notify him that he’s turning into a superstar. There’s nobody that tells you, ‘Now you’re being held to these standards that are mainstream standards that you can’t say things, you can’t do these different things.’ He didn’t have a publicist involved.” 50 essentially took DaBaby under his wing and looked out for him, even when others turned their backs.