After the release of Lil Baby‘s 2022 album, It’s Only Me, fans wondered if he’d lost his mojo. Despite the album’s commercial success — it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart — the prevailing sentiment on social media was that Baby’s heart just didn’t seem to be in it anymore. After electrifying performances on projects like Harder Than Ever and Drip Harder with Gunna, on It’s Only Me Baby seemed to just be going through the motions.
In a new interview with Complex, the Atlanta rapper confirms that was the case. As he says, “I didn’t even want to put It’s Only Me out at the time, because I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t in [the right] headspace. Those were songs I was just making, but it was nothing that I really loved, and nothing I even really liked… if it was up to me, I would’ve never dropped.” As it turns out, the only reason he released was “I had a back and forth with my label and shit, and they really needed me to drop or wanted me to drop.”
Despite the fact that he “hated those songs” and that he doesn’t even listen to them anymore, Baby’s label reps might feel justified after the album’s sales figures — and those for Baby’s just released follow-up, WHAM. The new album also debuted at no. 1, proving that fans at least still have an appetite for new Lil Baby music — especially since it seems he recovered his love for the process in the meantime. Now, he intends to follow-up again in February with the second half of the diptych, Dominique.