Lil Baby came up among a generation of rappers that weren’t admired for their lyricism as much as they were for their melodic sensibilities. His stage name may also contribute to him being overlooked for being able to bar out alongside the best of them. The flood of “Lil” rappers that poured in at the same time as Lil Baby contained many who were more committed to image than music. 

Lil Baby, however, is really about the music. If you weren’t convinced already, watch his new three-minute freestyle on Charlie Sloth’s Beats 1 radio show. Exhibit A: “Baby, I’m a millionaire / Keep the baby, I don’t care / Fifty g’s, pick a ear / Make a diss disappear / I got on that shit foreal / N****s on my list foreal / Every time I pull up, I look like I’m selling bricks foreal.” 

He proves he’s in full control of his performance when jangling his bundle of heavy necklaces to add effect to his raps. He doesn’t miss a beat when doing that and spitting, “She say I look good but it’s because I got these chains on me.”

To drive the point home, he switches up his flow before embarking on another run of stellar bars: “I keep having flashbacks from all them trash bags / I keep having flashbacks from all them Glad bags / I’m getting better and my shit flawless, I got em mad mad / But my lil woadie got a body count like Mad Max.”

Lil Baby’s prowess will also be on display on his sophomore album, My Turn, which drops this Friday (Feb. 28). The Griselda crew also recently stopped by Charlie Sloth’s show to participate in “Fire In The Booth”.