Young Thug Confirms That He Paid Lil Baby To Take Rapping Seriously

In just a few years, Lil Baby has became one of hip-hop’s favorite artists, and the last year has been one of his most productive periods yet. In 2020 the Atlanta native has released his sophomore album, My Turn, which turned him into the first double-platinum album-selling artist of the year. His single “The Bigger Picture” also became one of the soundtracks to this past summer’s protests against police brutality. And none of it would have been possible if Young Thug didn’t push the 4PF rapper to pursue rap and take it seriously — something Lil Baby confirmed earlier this year during an interview on The Breakfast Club. Now, during a recent interview, Young Thug shared his side of it.

The Slime Season rapper joined T.I. and Benny The Butcher on the former’s ExpediTIously podcast and when he was asked about paying Lil Baby to take rap seriously, Thug confirmed the story. “I used to read that young n****’s captions on his pictures and call him like, ‘bruh, you know you can rap.’ He in jail like, ‘bruh, I’mma goddamn get out, I’mma goddamn get me some money, get me a bag and do what I need to do,’” he said. “Just to groom him to you really could get paid from doing it, like, no cap.”

In The Breakfast Club interview earlier this year, Lil Baby said he now appreciates everything Thug did for him. “My mind wasn’t where Thug’s mind [was] at because I hadn’t been through what I’ve been through now,” he said. “Now I appreciate everything he said and I understand everything he said. It still put something in my head, but I still couldn’t see it.”

Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.