Baby D 'A-Town Secret Weapon' album

Following the huge success of Oomp Camp recording artist UNK, Big Oomp Records and KOCH Records bring you the next superstar from Atlanta, Baby D. Baby D has cultivated a loyal following of fans in his native Decatur and throughout Atlanta who have been chanting and bouncing with him for years. The new album, A-Town Secret Weapon, features the white hot first single “I’m Bout Money”. The single is produced by DJ Montay (Flo Rida feat. T-Pain “Get Low,” UNK “Walk It Out,” “2 Step”) and is exploding at radio.

The video for “I’m Bout Money” was directed by RAGE (Jim Jones, Soulja Boy, UNK) and is currently in rotation at B.E.T. With guest appearances from Shawty Lo, Gucci Mane, Sean P of the Youngbloodz, and more, A-Town Secret Weapon will keep you rocking through the whole summer.

biography
“I go where big boys go and do what big boys do. We might wear the same size but you can’t walk in my shoes.” -- Baby D, “Big Boy Whips”

Since his emergence some 10 years ago, perennial ATL rapper Baby D has definitely put some miles on his shoes. As one of the leaders of the ever-evolving Atlanta music scene and, at 25, one of the industry’s youngest hip hop veterans, Baby D has helped to forge southern rap into what it is today and has paved the way for many wide-eyed wannabes who have sought to follow in his rather large footsteps.

His new CD, the aptly titled A-Town’s Secret Weapon, finally unveils the young man behind the voice and spirit of the renowned Oomp Camp. But even as he stands ready for his close-up, Baby D is still willing to share the spotlight.

“I feel that Big Oomp Records, as a whole, has pioneered a lot of things from Atlanta that a lot of people didn’t know that we branded,” he says, sharing the glory with his musical family, headed by the multi-tasking street music guru known as Big Oomp. “But now the secret is about to be let out because we’ve been putting it down in Atlanta for so long,” says Baby D, in that charming southern drawl of his. “Nine times out of ten Atlanta artists have seen us before they even came out and I think we inspired them to start rapping.”

Widely known and loved for their collaborations, the Oomp camp has teamed up with some of A-Town’s finest, but this time, Baby D said he wanted to stand on his own. “I’ve got a line in one of my songs that says, ‘I’m 285 ‘cuz I’m all around’” – a clear reference to the interstate highway that loops around metro Atlanta. “I can go anywhere and get love because I’ve put the grind down, from selling my own mixtapes in the flea markets on the south side everyday to working on the west side to doing stuff on the north side but this time, I wanted to stand out by myself.”

And stand out he does. With his contagious chant-driven single, “I’m Bout Money,” Baby D comes out swinging, leaving no doubt about his intentions as an artist and a businessman. Produced by DJ Montay (DJ Unk, Flow Rida, T-Pain), the song features Blaze, the Oomp camp’s new three-member male R&B group. “Basically that’s the anthem for ’08,” says Baby D.

On “Big Boy Whips” the five-foot-four-inch Baby D reminds haters that size doesn’t matter. “People my size are considered little people so we’re always underestimated by the big people. So I said I was gonna make a song for all the little people that’s really big boys because, at the end of the day, it’s all about your brain power, your mind. It ain’t really about your size.”

On “This is For My Niggas,” Baby D pours one for his homies. “I dedicate that song to my brother and my cousin, Dollar Bill, who passed away,” he says. “I’m just talking about a lot of realistic things that go on in my life everyday that people don’t see on the other side.”

Sharing a little bit more of his life is what Baby D set out to do with this record. “I tried to give people more of me,” he lends. “On my first two albums [2000’s Off Da Chain and 2002’s Lil Chopper Toy], I had all the different features but on this album you’ll hear more of me. I’m just giving you my story and telling you what I’ve been going through for the past three or four years. A lot of folks thought I was chillin’ but I was going through my little things so I had to regroup and reinvent myself because the music was changing and I had to switch my style up.”

Baby D’s mentor, friend and ‘big brother,’ Big Oomp, who now serves as president of KOCH Records South, said he agreed that it was time for Baby D to walk in another direction. “Since music has changed so much in the last two years we wanted him to grow and to get older and still keep his teenage fan base,” says Oomp. “We wanted him to reach out to pop audiences; graduate to another genre and another group of people. I think he’s achieved that on this record.”

Even though Baby D wanted to stand on his own, he still made room for some of his ATL campadres. He teams up with R&B crooner Lloyd on the R&B/bass-flavored ‘Two of the Youngest Players” and with none other than Shawty Lo and Gucci Mane on “Put Me in the Freezer.” “That’s gonna be an instant street banger,” he says, “because these are two of the hottest street niggas in Atlanta. I got the east side and the west side on there.”

And in the tradition of his 2000 hit, “ATL Hoe,” Baby D pays homage to his stomping grounds with “You Gotta Love the ‘A’.” “I’m one of the first artists to make an Atlanta song with Pastor Troy and Archie way back in the day so that’s like a signature thing I do for all my albums. I always have to do an ATL song. This is my home. I love it. I’ve been loving it and it’s not just because it’s cool to be here now. I didn’t want to try to stray too far away from my fans. Even though I’m maturing I still wanna keep my fan base and let them know that I’m still down with the ‘A’ and ain’t nothing changed.”

But some things have changed. Baby D is still loyal to the ‘A’; he still has love for his fellow ATL rappers and he is still committed to his fans but this time around, Baby D is not relying on others to tell his story and he’s not content to let his past achievements speak for him. “You can only tell somebody so much,” he notes. “The rest, you just have to show them. I have a lot of people that have been riding with me from day one but there are a lot of people who don’t know. I just want to reach out to the people who don’t know me – who know of the songs but actually don’t have the visual to go with them…. I’m trying to do something unexpected. That’s when you really make your mark in the music industry and that’s all I’m really trying to do – just make my mark, leave a legacy so that years from now people will say, ‘Yeah, we know all about Baby D.”

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Baby D - A-Town Secret Weapon