In A Minute
E
Lil Baby·
20222022
For just about as long as he’s been rapping, Lil Baby has known exactly what fans have wanted to hear. From the rambling and electric non sequitur of breakout single “Freestyle,” to mock-crying on Drake collaboration “Yes Indeed,” to the way his gruff and always to-the-point bar delivery counterbalanced the pain-inspired melody of Lil Durk across their Voice of the Heroes project—rare is the Lil Baby miss. On his third official album, It’s Only Me, Baby takes great pains to maintain this accuracy.
There’s a heap of producers on It’s Only Me who’ve yet to really stake their claim as big-ticket collaborators, but the most recognizable (Wheezy, Murda Beatz, Tay Keith, SEVN Thomas) are certified hitmakers. The production across the project is largely skittering and urgent, the exception being the woozy and ominous horror-movielike score beneath Jeremih collaboration “Stop Playin.” Throughout, Baby is rapping like he’s pressed to rid himself of a gaggle of old rhyme books, depositing the best of their contents on record.
And the MC is clearly still one of the best slick talkers out there. Though most of the project’s songs veer in and out of any singular topic, couplets like the following from “Waterfall Flow” show Baby’s ability to efficiently and effortlessly embody the two most essential components of rap superstardom—men wanting to be you and women wanting to date you: “You gon’ have to pick a side, come here, let me pick your mind/You can tell me all your flaws, I’ll get someone to fix your body/She love when I thug and like when I get romantic/She wanna be gang, I got her doing our handshake.”
Lyrics
[Intro]
(Damn, Kai, you goin' crazy)
[Verse 1]
I be in the loop, she be in a group (Yeah)
Brodie want her friend, throw 'em alley-oop (Yeah)
Turned somethin' to nothin', bruh, I'm livin' proof
How can I lose when we the who's who's?
Still runnin' 'round with Mohawk, jet ready, pack the Goyard
People probably think I show off, I ain't even give it yet
Runnin' up a silly check, stayin' off the internet
Share the stage with Billie Eilish, turnt at any given time
Personal partners pillow talkin' 'cause I got rich without 'em
Only thing they should be sayin' is, "Baby keep it solid"
We ain't even deep as we used to be, this shit slick, divided
Bruh ain't got no hustle or nothin', so he gon' stick to violence
I be known to run down, I'm dialed in, so I can't speak about it
She know I'm a gangster, she love me, I bring the freak up out her
Can't play with me, you know I come trim, I'm in a different league
I'm tired of showin' what I can get done, what you gon' do for me?
Forty-thousand miles up in the air, only time I get some Z's
Full-court press, foot on they neck, and I can't let 'em breathe
Blood, sweat, and tears come with this check, it ain't nowhere near easy
Had to fall back, you know how that go, we only speakin' briefly
Hope I'm not too much to handle, city nigga from Atlanta
I spent my last check on ammo, this is not a regular Lambo
Hundred thousand dollars kit, could've put down on another Lambo
Don't be in the mix, I built this shit forever havin' say so
This shit gon' get serious about my money, this ain't no fuckin' Play-Doh
Brodie down for double homicide, I try to tell him, "Lay low"
C don't like to drive, but he spin good, I'm on the way to Clayco
AK-47s in the spots before they made the Draco
[Chorus]
I'm just tryna ball and live, hundred mill', I'm calling dibs
I'm the boss, pay all the bills, I'm the golden child for real
Go off in this bitch, I will, I been on my grind for years
And I'm out here grinding still, I need equity to sign the deal
I'm just tryna ball and live, hundred mill', I'm calling dibs
I'm the boss, pay all the bills, I'm the golden child for real
Go off in this bitch, I will, I been on my grind for years
And I'm out here grinding still, I need equity to sign the deal
[Verse 2]
Overbuying cars, I snatch the Brabus just for motivation
Shootout at the spot today, tomorrow, we in a new location
Free all of the guys, I hope y'all beat the case or get probation
Stash it at my mama house, four hundred bands in the ventilation
Now look how I'm living, I bought a house for the money to stay at
Right when niggas think that I got soft, I'ma pull up and spray at
Living like a don, might smoke a blunt in the back of the Maybach
Pull up like your mama with the switch, "Why the fuck would you say that?”
You can do it first, I'ma do it worst, gotta double the pay back Never take it personal, show no mercy, bruh taught me that way back
Condo to get off, I was always taught, "Don't tell hoes where you stay at"
Keep a stash house, you can't take nothing to the spot where you lay at
Never be a bother, if you off me, no problem, just say that
Never runnin' off, so if I owe you, I got you, I'll pay that
Give this shit my all, so when I'm old, I can chill and just lay back
Really from the bottom so the trenches is where I feel safe at
[Chorus]
I'm just tryna ball and live, hundred mill', I'm calling dibs
I'm the boss, pay all the bills, I'm the golden child for real
Go off in this bitch, I will, I been on my grind for years
And I'm out here grinding still, I need equity to sign the deal
I'm just tryna ball and live, hundred mill', I'm calling dibs
I'm the boss, pay all the bills, I'm the golden child for real
Go off in this bitch, I will, I been on my grind for years
And I'm out here grinding still, I need equity to sign the deal
