Lil Baby

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Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and composer from Atlanta, Georgia. He rose to attention and acclaim in 2017 when he released his mixtape Perfect Timing. He is best known for his singles "My Dawg", "Freestyle", "Yes Indeed", "Drip Too Hard", "Close Friends" and "Woah", the latter four peaking at number 6, 4, 28 and 16 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Early life

Dominique Armani Jones was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He was two years old when his father left the family, leaving his single mother to raise him and his two siblings. While he was not struggling academically, Jones would repeatedly get in trouble, resulting in him dropping out of high school in the tenth grade. Jones was always looking up to the older guys in his neighborhood. His mother and siblings have talked about how he was very busy and that he was always hustling and getting money.

In early 2012 he was charged for possession with intent to sell among other charges. His original lawyer urged him to take a 2-year plea deal, but Jones refused, and acquired a new lawyer. This new lawyer placed Jones in a special program that would only hold him for a year. While in this program, he got into an altercation with a white prisoner over racial comments. After that, Jones' sentencing was replaced with the original 2-year deal. Later in 2013, he had a charge of possession of marijuana, less than an ounce. Then in 2014, he had another charge of possession of marijuana with intent to sell among other things. After being incarcerated for two years, he began his rap career with 4PF (4 Pockets Full) and Quality Control Music.

Career

2016-2017: Beginnings and Harder Than Ever

Shortly after serving two years, Lil Baby dropped his mixtape Perfect Timing. He released this mixtape with musical guidance from fellow Atlanta native, Young Thug and under the label 4 Pockets Full, Wolfpack and Quality Control Music. The mixtape featured some well-known names like Lil Yachty and Young Thug, but primarily featured underground local artists. Although the mixtape had little promotion, it still performed well and managed to gain attention inside and outside the Atlanta rap scene. Shortly after releasing Perfect Timing he released his second mixtape, Harder Than Hard July 18, 2017. The mixtape widened Lil Baby’s fame and only gave him more widespread notoriety; with the support of the lead single "My Dawg". October 9, Lil Baby released a collaboration mixtape with close friend and fellow Atlanta rapper Marlo, 2 The Hard Way. This mixtape did not create as big an impact as two former tapes, but still garnered some attention.