Iylana Vanzant once told Karreuche Tran to lie her “crying head” on her bosom. Vanzant then took the young ex-girlfriend of Chris Brown and comforted her with the softness of a maternal unit cooing at her baby.
There is another “baby” I would like to highlight who I also believe must be protected at all costs and embraced within our collective bosom—Jonathan “DaBaby” Kirk.
I was first introduced to DaBaby while ridin’ around and gettin’ it with my partner-in-crime Darnell, who suddenly started bumpin’ “Up The Street” from DaBaby’s Baby Talk 5 mixtape. “I love this shit,” Darnell mused. And damn, so did I. Sure, the beat sounded like I was attempting to maintain a high score in a Nintendo game, and yet, I had to download it immediately. Maybe it was DaBaby’s infectious flow, charismatic bravado or a combination of both; regardless, I was hooked.
Most recently, a clip from DaBaby’s music video for “BOP” began circulating on Twitter, specifically because of his dance break with The Jabbawockeez of America’s Best Dance Crew fame. That excitement reached its climax when DaBaby performed on this past episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Our nigga blowin’ up!
Along with his performance energy and general demeanor, I generally appreciate the connection he has with his fans. Earlier this month, DaBaby’s private jet broke down, preventing him from making it on time for his performance in Charlotte, N.C.
Despite several additional efforts, the matter was out of his control. “Bitch, I’m mad as hell,” he said on an Instagram video before writing a caption that read, “I’m sorry Charlotte.” Instead of washing his hands of the whole thing and abandoning his fans, he decided to perform live on FaceTime. Now that is a standup guy.
Then, this, the pièce de résistance, happened:
Listed at 5 feet, 8 inches, the wee rapper surprised a fan eager to meet him after missing his concert in Washington D.C. by leaping into her arms so that she could pick him up.
“Oh my God! I fuckin’ spoke this shit up! I’m so mad I look like this,” the fan squealed with incredulous delight. Look, DaBaby may be diminutive, but his positive aura is Herculean.
Plus, look at this damn smile!
How can you continue to endure a bad day after looking at such a great grin? He smiles like we did back in the day for our formal elementary school photos—extra hard. Hell, even when I visited ComplexCon this year and walked by DaBaby with his posse (including his huge hunk of a bodyguard), my irritated feet from the day’s walking were suddenly healed. See? Energy.
Forget about the traditional Baby New Year, I nominate DaBaby as the representative of the new year. Let’s bring the right energy into the beginning of a new decade.
Sweet DaBaby Jesus.