Da Baby’s triumphant return to the spotlight for his third studio album was nothing short of exceptional. Blame It On Baby is a statement piece from Da Baby, who in past months has been harshly criticized for his perceived inability to produce a sound different than his signature off the jump, loud, in-your-face braggadocios rap. Namely, critics saw his lack of melody and introspection to show his immaturity as an artist. His past two albums were full of club tracks, play-it-as-loud-as-you-can music. Most of the sounds sounded similar, but his fans (me included) couldn’t get enough.
On Blame it on Baby, fans hear a new Jonathan Kirk. This one experiments with different flows (namely melodic and triplets) and punchlines in the adlibs. It provides a cohesive album from start to finish. We hear attempts (mostly successful) of an intro where Da Baby flows like EVOL era Future. He recruits and rescues Quavo from his abysmal pop feature stint for Quavo’s best verse in months on “Pick Up.” Da Baby sings and raps with a succinct melodic touch on “Rockstar” and “Drop,” both with A+ features from rap’s newest superstars Roddy Rich and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, respectively. These songs are a departure from the deep bass lines and crashing drums we saw on KIRK instead replacing them with acoustic strings and flutes that give these tracks a summery driving vibe that is easily playable in the car. They are, for lack of better explanation, groovy. Roddy Rich also showcases his immense talent with one of his best rap verses in his career, proving that he is wise beyond his years in this rap game.
A perfect feature from NBA Youngboy on “JUMP” brings Da Baby back to his roots. This song absolutely slaps. If you ever want to run straight through a brick wall twice, let this song be the soundtrack. NBA’s unique vocals are always refreshing and his flows notably crisp. On this site, we love rappers going bar for bar. All of the collaborations on this album (minus “Nasty” with Megan and Ashanti, which is no doubt a sexual bop, yet misplaced on BIOB) prove to be top collaborations of the year. On this site, we love rappers going bar for bar. Again, on “Champion,” Baby presents a fully new aura, this time singing his own chorus, allowing for the pain in his voice to speak, and noting that he is “better than the old me.” Production from tier one talents London on the Track (Drop), Wheezy (Talk About It), JetsonMADE (Lightskin Shit) gives this album the true triple crown. Top production, top notch features, and an artist ready to push his musical limits in a way we haven’t seen from Da Baby. Will this be the new and (improved) Da Baby? One who is able to switch flows, sing melodically, and open up semi vulnerably about past relationships? Or is this just an experimental album to prove critics of his versatility?
The title track song, “Blame It On Baby” has so much to explore. There are four beat switches, all of which build up, allowing Baby’s (perfect) rapper voice to glide easily over a one-track loop. Again, he blatantly shows his middle finger to the critics asking “thought he couldn’t switch the flow how he go and switching the beat up.” He has shown, to this point, he can be more versatile than previously thought. Despite all of this new melodic mainstream Baby, he finds time on this album to be him; Da Baby that raps with no interruption about cars, diamonds, and is “back fuckin 4 or 5 women” at once.
We can’t be positive if this project marks the initial introduction to Da Baby as an artist rather than just a rapper, as it seems he is, I am here for it. He is introspective, mature, and understands fame in a way not many new artists do. Da Baby is still the best new artist three years after his debut album, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.