If you’ve heard Yung Baby Tate before, it was likely as a result of her loud, charismatic presence across social media platforms. Between her Instagram and TikTok accounts, she has amassed nearly 300,000 followers, and it’s no secret why. Fans are often entertained by YBT’s live videos, which typically consist of her freestyling over hard-hitting beats and interacting with fans. During summer 2019, Ashnikko released the song “STUPID,” which featured YBT, and the song instantly went viral on TikTok, with over 2 million videos made using the track. Tate and Ashnikko are seen in the music video as bloodied, vindictive girlfriends out to kill the men who wronged them, and this is the kind of ferocity with which Tate has approached music since the beginning of her career.
While she made her mark on the rap scene with her album Girls in 2019, Tate’s December 2020 project After The Rain showed fans that she was actually a Renaissance woman of sorts. The 7-track EP showcases the breadth of her musical talents, including singing, playing the piano, and beat-making, that she honed at Georgia’s prestigious DeKalb School of the Arts. After The Rain was Tate’s first project under her new label Raedio, managed by actress Issa Rae. Tate had a notable appearance on Rae’s Insecure season 4 soundtrack alongside big names like Rico Nasty and Buddy, asserting herself as one of the girls to watch on the rap scene.
Tate’s confidence and bubbly personality shine through in both her musical style and her appearance, which is often decked out in bright colors, glimmering accessories, and extravagant makeup. When listening to Yung Baby Tate, you’ll hear a range of tracks from commanding, forceful rap to smooth, sultry R&B ballads.
Below are 10 tracks that are absolutely essential to your YBT introduction.
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I Am (with Flo Milli)
“I am healthy, I am wealthy, I am rich, I am that bitch. I am gonna go get that bag and I am not gonna take your shit. I am protected, well respected, I’m a queen, I’m a dream. I do what I wanna do and I’m who I wanna be, ’cause I am me.” These are the opening lines of YBT’s “I Am,” which features Mobile, Alabama rapper Flo Milli, who, like Tate, has recently exploded on the rap scene. The two practice their daily positive affirmations on the track, manifesting their money and success in the music industry.
The song, which comes off of Tate’s December 2020 EP After The Rain, is her most recent hit, garnering over 10 million streams in the few months since its release. This is somewhat thanks to a TikTok challenge which had women of all shapes, colors, and sizes reciting the lyrics, promoting a culture of body positivity and female empowerment throughout the app. YBT is certainly not one to shy away from inspiring others, and this track will have you feeling like the baddest b*tch on the planet after listening.
STUPID (with Ashnikko)
“STUPID” is Yung Baby Tate’s most well-known record to date. The angry breakup ballad focuses on themes of embracing your femininity with a disregard for men, and while YBT is only featured on the song, her verse makes a splash. When asked about working with Tate, Ashnikko told Genius, “She’s so nice and her lyrics are next level. She’s amazing. And she can rap. Her lyrics are amazing. She has a voice. She’s it.”
On “STUPID,” Tate asserts herself as the “It Girl” who cannot be fucked, rapping, “This pussy juicy-juicy, ooh yummy, wanna do me? Oo nah, boy you could never, ’cause you not clever enough, and I got several dummies that wanna get on me, I don’t want you and I don’t want your homie.”
It’s no mystery why TikTok took to this song so quickly. The track has become an inspiration to young women everywhere who refuse to be messed with, and has become one of the most popular and memorable trends in the app’s history.
Baecation
On “Baecation,” YBT gets sultry. She wants to take a vacation in another country with “somebody daughter,” telling her to leave her boyfriend behind. We don’t often hear about gay relationships in R&B lyrics, and the representation is a welcome reprieve from the often derogatory description of women in music. “Baecation” leaves you feeling swept off your feet by YBT, who suggests, “We should take a first date baecation all by ourselves, you can pick the time and place, then I’ll meet you there.”
“Baecation” is one of the tracks on After The Rain where Tate’s talents as a singer really shine through, with vocal runs that are sure to leave you with goosebumps. “Baecation” is the perfect track for when you just need to get away.
Damn Daniel (with Bree Runway)
“Damn Daniel” is the second single off of Bree Runway’s latest project 2000AND4EVA, and serves as YBT and Bree’s first collaboration. The track’s name comes from a long-running internet joke dating back to 2016, where high school students Daniel Lara and Joshua Holz posted a series of Snapchat clips that went viral. Bree and Tate’s track discusses an unknown “Dan,” who is in a relationship with both of the singers and maintains the illusion of being single.
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For many girls, this is a familiar situation to be in, and the two singers warn against getting involved with men like this, saying, “If you fuck with him, he’ll fuck all your friends.”
The track has an upbeat, nostalgic vibe, which is reflected in the ‘80s-esque music video that the artists miraculously made from their homes during quarantine.
Don’t Hit Me Right Now (with Dreamville)
In 2020, Yung Baby Tate attended the Grammy Awards for her contribution on Dreamville’s Revenge Of The Dreamers III. While the album did not win, Tate became a Grammy-nominated artist at the age of only 23. Tate’s collaboration with Dreamville has been one of the standout moments of her career, and her dreamy vocals can be heard throughout the entirety of “Don’t Hit Me Right Now.”
On the track’s lyrics, all of the song’s collaborators say that they are busy, and they don’t want their girlfriends to hit them up for sex. On her verse, Tate raps, “I fry ’em, I sizzle ’em, they bitin’, they nibblin’, they lyin’, they fibbin’ it, they childish, they children.” Tate’s voice stands out due to its femininity and seductive charm, something that’s consistent across all of her songs, collaborative or otherwise.
Mean Girl (with Queen Key and Asian Doll)
The deluxe edition of Yung Baby Tate’s 2019 album Girls is a take on all of the different versions of herself, and the “Mean Girl”-inspired version is among the most memorable. The track, which features Queen Key and Asian Doll, came alongside a six-minute music video that’s a whimsical parody of the 2004 cult classic film Mean Girls.
On the aggressive, combative song, the trio makes it clear that they don’t care if any other girls like them, and that they’ll make anyone who messes with them regret it. t This track cements Yung Baby Tate as a rapper that cannot be challenged.
All of Tate’s tracks, even the mean ones, have an underlying message of girl power. On the chorus of “Mean Girl,” Tate raps, “I’m meaner than Regina, bitch, you just a penis, I would call you pussy, but pussy just like Jesus.”
CAMP
“CAMP” is one of YBT’s 2019 singles post-Girls. Tate was inspired to write the song after seeing the 2019 Met Gala theme, which featured a lot of eccentric, colorful, electric fashion, a style that she often embraces in her everyday life. She frames the idea of camp in the song as both a physical and mental getaway: it’s a place where you can be yourself and do whatever you want to do. Tate turns the aesthetic idea of camp into a physical, idealistic getaway for the track, one she imagines as being over-the-top and flamboyant.
Her imagining of a garish summer camp comes from the fact that she never actually went to camp as a kid. Tate told Genius, “Aw, I wish I would have gone to camp. And if I would have gone to camp it would have been a camp, camp, and we just would have all been extra and having fun.”
“CAMP” is one of the perfect tracks to listen to if you want to hear all of Tate’s skills in one neat track, tied up with a bow. Her melodic singing voice absolutely shines on the chorus, while her rap verses show how fly she really is.
Kim (With Tkay Maidza)
“Kim” is Tate’s most recent single, released in early February 2021. The song’s narrative is in reference to the classic children’s TV show Kim Possible, where Tkay plays the role of Kim and Tate plays her arch-nemesis, Shego. The music video is a futuristic take on the track, with Tkay even jokingly dressing up like Kim Kardashian from her iconic 2014 Paper Magazine cover shoot. The hard-hitting track showcases both of the rappers’ rhyming abilities, proving to fans that they are absolutely unstoppable.
On the track, YBT raps, “Anything’s possible ‘cept for you stoppin’ me but, I know you gon’ try ’cause you dumb.” Tate doesn’t doubt her own intelligence, but she does doubt the intelligence of those who try to get in her way.
Pretty Girl Remix (with Killumantii and Mulatto)
The remix of “Pretty Girl” is another track off of Tate’s 2019 album Girls, and is a prime example of the early 2000s nostalgia that she loves so much. The cover art and music video feature her, Killumantii, and Mulatto as the Powerpuff Girls, a notable cartoon for little girls growing up in this era.
“Pretty Girl” details some of the privileges that you have when you’re hot, as Tate explains in the song’s chorus, “Pretty girl, I don’t buy drinks at the bar, city girl, yeah they rock with me, I’m a star.” Like many other Yung Baby Tate songs, the message of the track is to let girls know that they should always be confident, and to not let anyone tell them they aren’t the hottest girl in the room– literally. Both Killumantii and Mulatto are also known for writing raps about female empowerment, including songs Killumantii’s “Blocked” and “Single” and Mulatto’s “B*tch From Da Souf” and “My Body.” it’s no surprise they meshed together so well on “Pretty Girl.”
Let It Rain (with 6LACK)
Tate teamed up with Maryland-born R&B artist 6LACK to make absolute magic on “Let It Rain.” This song is the closing track on After The Rain, and it leaves the project on a sweet, sexy note. The lyrics detail the trials and tribulations of a complicated relationship where both parties love each other, but they aren’t really good for each other. Both artists have stand-out vocals on the track, but this is one song where Tate’s singing voice is absolutely mesmerizing.
Tate and 6LACK both wear their hearts on their sleeves for “Let It Rain,” where Tate sings, “After I fall, build it up all over again. I loved and I lost, do this shit all over again. And I left you alone, something keeps on pulling me in. I’m caught up in your storm.” The artists need their overwhelming feelings to “rain down” over them to see if their relationship will survive.