Lil Baby Says Young Thug Paid Him “To Leave The Neighborhood” And Pursue A Rap Career In New Interview

In a new interview with XXL, Lil Baby reveals that Young Thug paid him to leave the hood and pursue a rap career.

Lil Baby, 24, has already made a mark on the hip hop scene. His debut album ’Harder Than Ever’ was released last year, and he’s been featured on several of his Quality Control labelmates hits. However, his song “Yes Indeed” is what took his career to the next level. Following his album’s success, he went on to produce two heavy-hitter projects,  “Drip Harder” and his mixtape “Street Gossip.”

While Lil Baby is making big moves, it partially wouldn’t have been a reality without the guidance of fellow Atlanta native Young Thug. In XXL’s fall 2019 issue, the rapper revealed that Thugger saw something special in Lil Baby and insisted that he begin his rap career. Young Thug offered Lil Baby the amount of money he was making hustling so he could get him to the studio.

“Young Thug, he gave me all the jewels. He literally paid me to leave the neighborhood. [He said], ‘Bruh you can rap, you got it. You could be next. You gotta leave the ‘hood… I’ ma pay you to come to the studio.'” Lil Baby’s talents also caught the eyes of Gucci Mane, who wanted to sign him himself.

“I go to the studio, and I make a little song, but I put the little clip on Instagram, and when I put it on my Instagram, Gucci Mane commented under like, ‘I’mma sign him.'” Lil Baby recalled. “And Thug was like, ‘He already signed to me.'”