Show & Prove: Raq baby
Words: Paul Meara
Raq baby is young in name but his life experience goes far beyond his moniker. The 20-year-old Chicago-born, Atlanta-based rapper has all the talking points that a rising hip-hop artist is expected to have these days: authenticity, music that hits, millions of streams and YouTube views, touring in major cities and collaborations with rap’s frontrunners old and new.
But what’s helped Raq make an impact is that his personality lives through his music. Whether it’s more humorous, like his viral track “Got It Tucked” where he pulled out a dance from pro wrestler Jeff Hardy on TikTok, or songs like “Day By Day,” on which Raq combines his Chi-Town grit with ATL-influenced melodies, he’s become a unique force in the rap landscape right now. But for Raq, there may be one triumph that rises above all.
Speaking with XXL via Zoom last November, the rapper, born Robert Johnson, reveals his craziest accomplishment so far is twofold: one has nothing to do with his rhymes. “Definitely being a daddy and a rapper,” he says, just weeks after welcoming a baby boy into his life last September. It’s a blessing that changed his life for the better, especially since he’s had tragedy and setbacks that have tested him to this point.
Raq baby was born in Chicago and spent the first decade of his life in the Windy City, but since then, he’s resided in Los Angeles, North Carolina and Atlanta, where he currently calls home. Traveling across America during his earlier years opened his eyes to different ways of life and musical influences. Raq names Chief Keef as the artist he derives inspiration from. Future, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert and Tay-K are also rappers he praises, and it’s not hard to connect the musical dots when you hear his music.
Part of Raq baby’s appeal is his ability to combine the sounds of Chicago’s hard-hitting drill beats, grit in his lyrics and melodic style he adopted from Atlanta rap. Aside from “Day By Day,” “Belt Boyz” is a preeminent example of this. He gives listeners the combo of both influences while spitting about the hardships of simply being young in a world growing evermore violent and untrustworthy.
It’s important to understand why Raq baby chose to rap in the first place. In 2019, his grandmother, who played an integral part in raising him, passed away. It became a crossroads for him, being that he was 15 at the time and hadn’t even started a music career yet. “Sh*t, you want me to be real? When my grandma died,” Raq baby said when asked about what made him want to be a rapper. “That’s what inspired me. Now I’ve got to do something.”
Turning tragedy into the fuel to succeed, Raq baby began his rap career in 2021. At first, the young rhymer said he didn’t like recording and felt there was something missing, but he always freestyled or punched in while making music. That didn’t last long though after he began dropping songs under the name 952 Raq. Things really started bubbling up after that. In 2023, the same year he started going by his current moniker Raq baby, he released his debut project, Maniac Baby, featuring the song “Soldier Love,” an autobiographical track about his rough journey.
Unfortunately, violence has impacted Raq baby’s life. During his come up, hardship came full force. In November of 2022, Raq’s childhood friend Lil Hot was murdered in Atlanta. As a tribute, Raq baby dropped “I Miss Lil Hot,” which earned over 3 million YouTube views, 2 million Spotify streams and remains one of the rapper’s most successful songs to date. “That’s my baby brother,” Raq says. “I made a song about who I miss. I miss my lil bro.”
He’s also had to deal with the consequences of his actions. In June of 2023, he was locked up for three months. He’s quiet on the details, but did have to spend $100,000 to get a lawyer to help him out. The timing couldn’t have been worse for him, considering the trajectory of his rap career hit a climax while he was behind bars.
While incarcerated, “Automatic,” the rapper’s then-biggest song to date, hit the digital streets in a big way. Raq raps about his inability to trust anyone over the mournful noir of the saxophone in a sample of Raphael Ravenscroft’s 1979 song “Whole Lotta Something Goin’ On.” Beanie Sigel made the beat popular in rap circles in 2005 with “Feel It in the Air.” The track earned Raq hundreds of thousands of views across DSPs. But for Raq, he simply had to sit and wait to take advantage of it all.
“I blew up while I was in jail and I couldn’t really do sh*t but wait,” he shares, noting he entered incarceration on his birthday, June 8, and doesn’t like speaking much about that time generally. “It’s the craziest ever. I don’t like talking about that sh*t, but it’s the craziest sh*t ever though. I thought it was over with.” The time away ultimately didn’t stunt Raq baby’s career, as he was able to hit the ground running as soon as he was released that September. “When I got out, I snapped and did [everything] like how I wanted to,” he expresses.
A year after his release, Raq inked a deal with Alamo Records, much of it off the strength of his building street buzz and infectious music. “You could tell he was a superstar,” says Nahum Mesmer, Raq baby’s A&R at Alamo. Mesmer discovered the rapper’s music while working as a blogger. “He always kind of played the background, but you could just tell he had a big personality. Anytime he got on songs he would just carry his own weight and stood out.”
Between 2023 and 2024, Raq baby dropped six projects and several videos, including El Peligro, Bloody Holiday, Spill Season, “My Bitch” and “Dead Bodies And More Maggots,” which Mesmer describes as one of Raq’s defining songs. It too describes the harsh realities one can find themselves in if they get in too deep.
In 2025, that momentum continued to carry. Raq baby dropped More Spill, a project comprised of songs that were so hot they leaked prior to their official release, and I NEVER GAVE AF, featuring hometown hero G Herbo, who Raq also describes as one of his inspos. “DoorDash (OMG)” and “Stick Up” are standout tracks from the effort. He capped off the year with the deluxe of I NEVER GAVE AF, adding more to his arsenal.
2026 is shaping up to be a big year for Raq baby. He’s slated to hit the road for the El Peligro Tour this month and has more music on the way. Now with an infant son in tow, the rhymer hopes his story can be one of triumph through adversity. His perseverance and talent have gotten him this far. “I���m an underdog, so I stand out,” he maintains. “I’m one of those artists. I’m unforgettable, but you’ll damn near forget about me if I don’t say nothing. So, I’m indispensable when I want to be.”