Raq Baby is doing everything possible to establish his own lane in the rap game. The 19-year-old artist is making waves with his original flows over nostalgic instrumentals that continue to impress the masses.
"This feels good, I ain't even gonna lie," Raq Baby tells iHeartRadio about his budding career. "Going from nobody to somebody? Hell yeah. I'm different. You don't ever see no one like me forreal."
Born in Chicago, Raq Baby, born Brian Bedford, and his family relocated to Atlanta when he was 10. That's where he developed a passion for music that inspired the versatile sound his fans have come to appreciate today.
After growing up listening to R&B and soulful music, Raq Baby eventually gravitated toward the gritty sounds of his birthplace's most notable voices, Chief Keef and Lil Durk. He started to write his own music and create songs alongside several producers including his childhood friend Josh100k. Raq Baby first commanded everyone's attention in 2023 when he shared his breakthrough single "Soldier Love," a drill-type banger that samples Robin S' classic "Show Me Love." The song appeared on his first major body of work Maniac Baby, which holds 12 tracks in total.
Since then, Raq Baby has become addicted to the studio. He put out multiple projects over the past two years including Bloody Holiday (2023), El Peligro (2023), Abstruse and Abstruse (Deluxe), which dropped last year. The latter project contains 26 tracks including his collaboration with VonOf1700 "Daytona." Raq Baby followed up a few months later with his stand-out mixtape Spill Season. That project holds 17 songs like "Got It Tucked," which contains a rare Prince Royce sample, and "3am" featuring YTB Fatt.
"Fatt is my brother," Raq Baby says. "We got some more s**t going on."
2025 is slated to be a busy year for Raq Baby. After knocking out a couple of features with the likes of Hurricane Wisdom and Realbleeda, Raq dropped his brand-new EP More Spill. The continuation of his hit mixtape has no features and comes with upbeat joints "Check Fox 5" and "Who Want It." He also throws in a couple of thought-provoking tracks like "Ted Bundy" and "Crashed On Camera."
"Expect a whole lot of hot s**t," he says about the EP. "You'll never know what to expect from that b***h because it's going to be different every time."
Fans can expect to see Raq Baby perform his new music for the first time live at his upcoming concert. The "Day By Day" spitta is hype about his first-ever headlining show happening this Sunday, March 16 at A5 in Atlanta. You never know what to expect when it comes to his performances, but one thing is for sure. He expects the crowd to be flooded with women.
"It really don't be no n***as at my shows," he explains. "If you look at all my shows, it be hella girls just everywhere. They just love me."
If you miss his set, don't trip. Raq Baby plans to do more shows this year. He's set to open up for SahBabii at select dates of his ongoing "Resurrection Tour." The tour is set to make stops in Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and other major cities until it wraps up in Atlanta on March 25. It'll be Raq Baby's first major tour appearance, but he's not too worried about how his set will go. He just wants to have fun while he's doing it.
"This is my first one to be going on," he says. "To me, it don't matter what happens."
Before Raq Baby hits the stage, check out his brand-new music video for "Belt Boyz" off More Spill below.