Young Thug Tried to Teach Lil Baby About Music Ownership Before He Even Understood What Masters Were
Lil Baby says Young Thug gave him some of the most important advice of his early career, but he didn’t understand it at the time.
During an interview with Nessa on Hot 97, Lil Baby recalled how Young Thug repeatedly encouraged him to learn about music ownership, understand his contracts, and find out how much of his masters he would control.
At the time, Lil Baby barely understood what any of it meant.
He compared the experience to someone speaking Spanish to a person who had never heard the language. He admitted that he was already rapping about success without even reading his own record deal.
What made the advice remarkable was Young Thug’s position in his life.
Thug was already an established artist in Atlanta. He had even paid Lil Baby to leave the streets and spend time in the recording studio.
According to Baby, he trusted Thug so much that he would have signed with him if asked. Instead, Thug was encouraging him to think carefully before signing with anyone.
Young Thug later offered a different account. In 2025, he claimed he initially encouraged the head of Quality Control to sign Lil Baby before changing his mind and warning Baby against joining the label. Those comments came during a public dispute with the label’s boss.
Lil Baby eventually signed with Quality Control in 2017.
Six years later, in 2023, the label was sold in a deal valued at $300 million.
Looking back, Lil Baby’s account shows how Young Thug was introducing him to the business side of music before he understood its importance.