Too Hard

Riding off the sudden success of the 2017 street hit “My Dawg,” Too Hard was Lil Baby’s full-length breakthrough, positioning the relatively green rapper as one of Atlanta’s brightest new stars. (Keep in mind that at the time of its release, Baby had been rapping for less than a year, still relatively fresh off a two-year prison stint.) That innate talent shines through here: Tracks like the blistering, hookless “Freestyle” are quintessential Atlanta trap excellence, a clear-eyed take on mentor Young Thug’s lilting wordplay. On “Money Forever” with close collaborator Gunna, Baby vividly recalls getting evicted from roach-infested apartments (“That shit was embarassing”), but these days, he’s headed straight to the top.