Lil Baby was a recent guest on The New York Times Popcast with Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli ahead of his new album Fresh. But while he's looking forward to dropping his latest body of work, he also had plenty to say about his previous projects, such as his Lil Durk collaborative album, The Voice Of The Heroes. Apparently, the initial phases of this project was supposed to be a three-headed monster with Meek Mill rather than a dynamic duo.
However, Wham said Meek pulled out of the process. It's a curious tale, as we could've gotten Atlanta, Chicago, and Philly teaming up for a full LP with three MCs who have chemistry together and boast comparable artistic skills and aesthetics.
"Meek Mill had a house in Atlanta close to my house, I think Durk stayed somewhere close too, and he had us just pulling up," Baby recalled. "So at first, we was making a joint tape, us three. Then, in the midst of it... We going to James [Harden's] house recording, we coming to New York recording, we had got, like, six different records... [Meek] wasn't really feeling it at the time. He was just like, 'Y'all just do it.' And I'm like, 'We was really only doing it for you.' We already was making records. Pre-then, me and Durk ain't really make songs. We was, you know, cool. We weren't collaborators, we wasn't really studio buddies. But that's what started me and him making the records... It wasn't intentionally like I thought about who I needed to do a joint tape with."
The Voice Of The Heroes
Both Baby and Meek have supported Lil Durk throughout his legal woes this decade. After a jury acquitted Durk on murder-for-hire charges, he now faces a racketeering case next year.
Elsewhere, Meek Mill is hitting the road soon after dropping some new singles this year. It's a short six-city run, but should hype up his newest releases and pave the way for future ones.
The Voice Of The Heroes made a pretty big splash in 2021. Maybe if Meek was on it, it would've been an even bigger moment. But everything happens for a reason.
