Lil Baby has always lagged behind his mentor Young Thug and his tag-team partner Gunna, who both taught him to rap, but his rapid ascent and his resolve to improve suggested a dormant potential ...

Lil Baby is a reliably astute emcee — nimble at rapping and structurally fluid, but carrying enough bark to devour listeners with tales of fast cars, childhood mischief, and rebellious upward mobility ...