WHAM by Lil Baby: Album Review
Lil Baby goes for a WHAM, but only manages a squeak
The primary critique of rap’s Atlanta-dominated new generation—a class which includes Lil Baby in addition to other widely recognized names like Young Thug and Gunna—is their monotony and lack of versatility. 21 Savage escaped from this trap last year with his outstanding project american dream, an album I deeply enjoyed with its feature-driven vocal performances, unique melodic tracks, and pattern of introspection that began with his previous i am > i was.
Going into WHAM never having listened to a full Lil Baby album before, my one hope was that I wouldn’t get bored of it by way of each song sounding eerily similar to the last. My fear was only partially realized. Though Lil Baby makes a hearted attempt at diversification, it ultimately fails in the face of pressure to put himself back on the map.
While not totally surprising, it was pretty disappointing that it felt like Lil Baby had nothing to say on this album. He does find some original ways to say unoriginal things that rappers have been saying for decades—like flexing his business acquisitions on the opening track—but the feeling all the flexing and braggadocious bars aren’t as varied as his word choices may be.
It’s good that Lil Baby chose to save his good production content for the feature songs. So many recent trap projects have mismatched their talent by pairing their best production with solo songs, and vice versa. It’s not a huge detail—and certainly doesn’t beat any of the “carried by features” allegations—but it gives way to some of the best highlights on the album. “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber,” with its deep bass and quick transitions, is undoubtedly my favorite beat on the project—well-supplemented by a newly released Young Thug.
Redbone with GloRilla follows this pattern as well, with a quite thrilling-sounding beat against verses from Glo and Baby which are at least decent, if not a little disappointing at least from Glo’s part. Travis Scott picks up the great feature trend on “Stuff,” which has darker production almost reminiscent of Travis’s UTOPIA from two years ago. Travis and Baby’s fierce flows on this song, combined with an already great beat, are unmatched for the rest of the album. The only real exception to the great feature list is Rod Wave, who’s barely noticeable.
At this point, I think we need to return to the question of whether Lil Baby has grown, or at least diversified, from his previous projects. I think the most obvious attempt at achieving a different message or tone comes from “So Sorry,” where he apologizes to an unnamed female partner for being busy with his music. The key word here is attempt; his messaging here is completely undermined by his borderline misogynistic tone on the rest of the album. It’s soulless at best and hypocritical at worst, unfortunately.
Then we have “Streets Colder,” which is his attempt at replicating the beloved “dark days” from 21 Savage’s american dream, tracing the development of his life and career since his early days in the city. This is a far better track than the previously mentioned, as it comes with an obviously more genuine tone and sincere, passionate performance.
Another thing to highlight is that the tracklist doesn’t feel nearly as drawn-out as some other Atlanta rap projects of the past few years: one of wun’s mediocre 20 songs, BUSINESS IS BUSINESS’s slightly better 17, and of course, the Future triple drop of 2024 which hit for about 1/3rd of its duration across all three projects. 15 songs is only a slight improvement, but it’s enough to get me through the project without getting bored—that’s one thing off my wish list.
There’s a worthwhile conversation to be had about the commercialization of Lil Baby’s music. Yes, this album did top the charts, but it unfortunately came with an extreme case of risk-aversion and an absolute refusal from Lil Baby to try anything new. I don’t have much else to say on this album—it’s not creative, doesn’t have many compelling ideas, and can’t be told apart from most popular rap music from Lil Baby’s Atlanta colleagues.
Ratings:
Listen Up: 6/10
Dum, Dumb, and Dumber: 8/10
F U 2x: 6/10
I Promise: 5/10
Redbone: 9/10
By Myself: 4/10
Due 4A Win: 6/10
Stiff Gang: 6/10
So Sorry: 5/10
Stuff: 9/10
Say Twin: 6/10
Free Promo: 6/10
Outfit: 7/10
Drugs Talkin: 6/10
Streets Colder: 8/10
Overall Rating: 5.9/10
Best:
Stuff
Redbone
Dum, Dumb, and Dumber
Worst: By Myself