Lil Baby Reveals Young Thug Paid Him To Leave His Neighborhood To Record

BYAron A.Updated on September 26, 202211.8K Views

Lil Baby speaks onstage during Capitol Music Group's 6th annual Capitol Congress premiering new music and projects for industry and media on August 07, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Young Thug saw the star potential in Lil Baby and banked on it.

Lil Baby's had an astonishing rise to the top of the rap game. Over the course of a year and some change, he went from buzzing Atlanta artist to one of the hottest new artists in hip-hop. He has top 10 hits and albums to his name and he's just getting started. In a recent interview with XXL, Lil Baby explained how it all started with Young Thug pushing him to get in the studio.

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"I go to the studio and I make a little song but I put the little clip on Instagram and when I put it on my Instagram, Gucci Mane commented under like, 'I'mma sign him.'" Lil Baby recalled. "And Thug was like, 'he already signed to me.'"

Although he had two of the biggest artists out of Atlanta backing him, it was Young Thug who really mentored him coming up in the rap game. He admitted that Thug had to put some money up in order for Baby to leave his neighborhood in order to go to the studio and record.

"Young Thug really paid me to leave the neighborhood," he recalled. He continued to recount Thug persuading him into leaving the hood, offering to pay him for whatever wages he loses that day. "I was makin' more money hustlin' than I was rappin' so I was more into hustlin' but I wasn't lookin' at the bigger picture of rappin' to where I am today," he said.

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.