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Lil Baby has kickstarted what he’s promising will be a major comeback after going through the “darkest period” of his life.
The Atlanta rap star sparked fan excitement on Wednesday (November 13) by previewing material from his newly-announced album WHAM (Who Hard As Me), hinting that he’s about to embark on an epic run.
“Ain’t It Crazy How They Tryna Play Me Like I Ain’t The One!!! It’s That Time!” he wrote on Instagram. “I Would Say Again But This Run Will Be Totally Different!!
“I Had The Darkest Period Of My Life These Last Two Years But I Stayed Down And Overcame That Shit[.] Now I’m Back To Fuccin Shit Up As Usual…, Sincerely Wham !! Who Hard As Me[.] Let’s Gooooooo.”
The song snippet went down a storm among fans and fellow artists, with 50 Cent commenting: “[face with steam emoji] This is Hard [applause emojis] quit fucking around come on !”
Swizz Beatz added: “Let’s go King it’s that time [raised hands emojis] [fire emojis],” while Gillie Da Kid also expressed his approval in emoji form.
Lil Baby appeared to heed 50’s advice as just hours later he released the single, which is called “5AM,” in full, along with an accompanying music video.
Produced by Wheezy and Sean Momberger, the heavy-bottomed track finds the 4PF frontman defiantly navigating various pitfalls, from disloyal friends and lovers to feds on his trail trying to “connect [him] to dumb shit.”
The short but sweet songs ends with another signal that his new album is around the corner as Wham spits: “Even my mama be asking me where is the album, we want it / Had to get on my business and tighten my mental, I’m coming.”
Lil Baby is expected to release a second single on Thursday (November 14), as he revealed on X (formerly Twitter).
WHAM (Who Hard As Me) will serve as Lil Baby’s fourth studio album and the follow-up to 2022’s It’s Only Me, which boasted appearances from Future, Young Thug and EST Gee, among others.
Despite its strong supporting cast, sizeable first-week sales (216,000) and number one debut on the Billboard 200, the project received mixed reviews and failed to replicate the success or impact of his previous effort My Turn.
