Lil Baby only started rapping this year, but he’s already got Atlanta fired up

While on a trip to Atlanta this July, I went to Lil Baby’s Harder Than Hard mixtape release party. The project — both his second of this year and second ever — had been out for a few days at that point, but the packed-out club was belting every word of his riding, motivational cuts like “Ride Or Die,” “My Dawg,” and “My Drip.” Seeing that kind of excitement around his music, it was hard to believe the 21-year-old hadn’t entertained the idea of a rap career until earlier this year. After a long period of coaxing by Quality Control’s Pee and Coach K, and having recently returned home from time spent in jail, he decided to give rap a try — and it’s paying off.

On a recent trip to New York, the Atlanta born-and-raised rapper stopped by The FADER to talk about the story behind his first tape, his friendship with Young Thug, and what else we can expect to hear from him before the end of this year. Watch above.