Rap beef has left Lil Baby and his former collaborator Gunna estranged after years of friendship, career support and some of Atlanta’s biggest rap records. Before their relationship fell apart, the two helped shape each other’s careers, released a successful joint project and openly described their bond as family.
Before 2018, Lil Baby and Gunna knew each other outside the music industry. When Baby began taking rap seriously, Gunna was already recording and helped him understand the process. Their connection also included Young Thug, who encouraged Baby’s career and had signed Gunna to his YSL label.
In a 2019 interview with German outlet 16Bars, Baby revealed that he once paid Gunna around $100 to help him practice writing and recording music. He stressed that the practice songs were never released.
Baby later clarified the arrangement during an interview with Big Boy, explaining, “Gunna ain’t never wrote no song for me. He just showed me how to rap.”
2018 became their breakout year as a duo. They teamed up on records including “Sold Out Dates,” “Oh Okay,” and “Life Goes On” before releasing their collaborative mixtape, “Drip Harder,” that October.
The project debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, while “Drip Too Hard” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their mixtape also featured Drake on “Never Recover.”
The Gunna beef was nowhere in sight during that period. Their chemistry continued producing records, including “Heatin Up” from Lil Baby’s 2020 album “My Turn.”
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December 2021 brought one of Baby’s clearest descriptions of their friendship. Speaking with i-D, he reflected on their rise together.
“We came up together, so it’s always a pleasure to work with him. He’s one of the people in the industry I consider to be family.”
May 2022 marked the beginning of the legal situation that would eventually surround their fallout. Gunna and Young Thug were arrested in Georgia’s YSL racketeering case.
During an October interview with the Associated Press, Baby discussed how the arrests affected him and acknowledged that his communication with Gunna had decreased.
“I haven’t been talking to Gunna as much, but I talk to Thug often,” he said.
Meanwhile, the pair’s music reached another milestone in September when “Drip Too Hard” received diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.
December 14, 2022, became the major turning point. Gunna entered an Alford plea to one racketeering conspiracy charge and was released from custody. The plea allowed him to maintain his innocence while accepting a guilty plea to resolve his case.
His decision sparked accusations that he had cooperated against Young Thug. Gunna denied those claims, stating that he had not provided statements, cooperated with investigators, or agreed to testify against anyone.
January 2023 brought reports that Lil Baby had unfollowed Gunna on Instagram. Neither artist publicly explained the apparent social media change.
By June 2023, the Gunna beef was generating more speculation as both artists released or previewed music.
Gunna returned with “Bread & Butter,” which some listeners interpreted as addressing Lil Baby. Gunna denied that interpretation, responding, “That’s Capp. I’m just lettin’ the world hear my story.”
An unreleased Lil Baby verse mentioning people taking plea deals also circulated online. Although fans connected the lyrics to Gunna, Baby did not name him in the snippet.
December 2023 brought another public moment when a concert video circulated showing Baby demanding that his DJ stop playing “Drip Too Hard” while making a profane remark about informants. The exact date of the performance was not independently established.
December 2024 finally brought direct confirmation of their broken relationship.
During Charlamagne Tha God’s “Out of Context” interview, Lil Baby said, “We don’t got no relationship.”
When asked about the possibility of collaborating with Gunna again, including a hypothetical studio session involving Young Thug, Baby replied, “I don’t see that happening.”
He also rejected the assumption that his lyrics on “350” were directed at Gunna, explaining that listeners were creating narratives around his music.
January 2025 continued that pattern. Following speculation about his WHAM deluxe track “Runnin’ This [Expletive],” Baby told Complex, “That’s just how I rap.” He denied intentionally targeting a specific person with the lyrics.
December 2025 saw 21 Savage publicly call for reconciliation among Atlanta artists, including Young Thug and Gunna, while also addressing Lil Baby about the tensions. No reunion between Baby and Gunna was announced.
August 2026 offered a rare positive reflection from Gunna. During a Billboard interview about his chart history, he revisited recording “Drip Too Hard” with Baby.
“That song was a no-brainer,” Gunna recalled, describing their natural studio chemistry without addressing their personal differences.
October 30, 2026, brought Lil Baby’s latest explanation of how he views the situation.
Speaking on The New York Times’ Popcast, he said, “We can not like each other, but we gonna play it cool for y’all, you know what I’m saying? It’s like an unspoken thing.”
He also explained why public arguments would be counterproductive for two major Atlanta artists.
“I’d rather have that beef or problem personally because we’re… really like the ones who hold it down for the town,” he said.
Their relationship may be different today, but the music Gunna and Lil Baby created together remains a major part of both careers.
