Jonathan Lyndale Kirk is a 27-year-old rapper and songwriter, originally born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is more commonly known by his stage name DaBaby, and less commonly as Baby Jesus. DaBaby has been active in the music scene since 2015 and has released a total of 8 mixtapes up until his prominent come up.
Since moving to Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 6, DaBaby found himself getting in trouble with the law. The most notable was in November 2018, where DaBaby shot and killed a 19-year-old man in a Walmart store in self-defense after being held under gunpoint. Days later DaBaby got arrested under a concealed gun charge, though all charges relating to the case have been dropped. The case saw DaBaby receiving a rise in popularity after numerous news reports on the incident and its progression was made. This marked the beginning of DaBaby’s rise to relevance.
Despite his seemingly ‘short’ grind before his come up, the amount of music DaBaby has put out within the past few years justifies the success he has been seeing this past year. Consistency is one of his key secrets and undoubtedly played a major roll in his success story. The RnB Trap artist gained traction in the internet music scene after a musically productive 2017 and continued to produce music for his fan base on a regular basis. DaBaby’s 2018 mixtape “Blank Blank” caught the attention of many new fans, with two of his tracks “Blank Blank” and “Next Song” both receiving co-signs from Yo Gotti and Boosie Badazz. “Blank Blank” set the pace for DaBaby’s progression and solidified his spot in the underground music scene.
January 1st 2019 marked the release of his breakout hit “Walker Texas Ranger”, which went viral shortly after. Soon enough DaBaby found himself with a joint record deal between Interscope Records and independent label South West Music Group. March 1 became the release date for Da Baby’s first major debut project “Baby on Baby” which featured major collaborations from artists such as Rich the Kid, Offset and Rich Homie Quan. The Album Debuted at #25 on the Billboard 200 chart selling 21 000 units in its very first week of release and later would go #1 in March on Apple Music and “Suge” is now Certified Gold.
DaBaby’s prominent rise is attributed to a mix of musical talent, immaculate consistency, and great marketing despite a troubled past. Nonetheless this has been the perfect input for DaBaby’s rise to relevancy.
