According to Benzino, Lil Baby is “this generation’s 2Pac.”
The former Source magazine CEO and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta cast member sent the 4PF rapper his roses on Twitter on December 1 while praising his inspirational lyrics and the effect his music has on listeners.
“I been around Hip Hop since day & 1 out of this generations rappers @lilbaby4PF is the most influential & important at this time,” he wrote. “He like PAC’s influence can help turn around young black men to elevate their lives from the streets to a better life. He’s special trust me I know.
“..he’s really from and wit the shits & talks that street talk but he also raps about positive elevation & change, (like Pac), he never beefs online, helps his people, and raps about it and you can see his maturity, not just on the mic but in real life, he’s this generation’s 2Pac.”
He added: “This generation needs more Lil Baby’s.”
“Pac shot 2 cops, mother did time for the black panthers, he did mad time, ran with many killers, brother gunned down, was in every death row beef when got there but he wasn’t active?” he said. “Nah you ain’t active.”
While Lil Baby hasn’t responded to the 2Pac comparisons, on EST Gee’s 2021 song “5500 Degrees,” he did compare himself to Lil Wayne, another legendary rapper.
“I’m goin’ too crazy, I’m the Wayne of this new generation, n-ggas fugazi / They can’t fuck with us no type of way, these n-ggas too lazy / I’m cut from a different type of cloth, I don’t know who raised ’em / Every time I pop out, I hear women screamin’, ‘Ooh, Baby,’” he rapped.
In 2020, Lil Baby released his protest song “The Bigger Picture,” which stood in support of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations and demanded accountability for police violence in the wake of George Floyd’s death. But only a few months later did he admit he intended to stay out of politics.
“The more I’m seeing what’s up with all that shit, the more I’m like, ‘Let me back up off politics,’ ” he told GQ at the time. “I don’t want to be no Malcolm X or Martin Luther [King]. I stuck my nose in it. “I’m good on that.”
The song “The Bigger Picture” received nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance at the 2021 Grammy Awards and enjoyed commercial and critical success, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
