Babytron
editBabytron | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 6 June 2000 Ypsilanti, Michigan |
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| Years active | 2017–present |
James Johnson[1] (Born 6 June 2000[2]), known professionally as Babytron, is an American rapper and songwriter from Ypsilanti, Michigan, belonging to the hip-hop trio Shitty Boyz[3].
Johnson released his debut mixtape Bin Reaper in 2019[4], and most recently released Megatron in 2022[5], both released underneath The Hip Hop Lab/EMPIRE label[4][5].
Early life
editJohnson was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan on June 6th, 2000, his mother an English teacher and father a rapper, part of the Motown rage. Most of Johnson's early experiences musically come from being exposed to 1980s music, predominantly that of 1980s pop and movie soundtracks [6]. Johnson attended Lincoln High School, which is where he started rapping seriously. During high school, he would go on to befriend two other rappers, (StanWill, TrDee), creating the group Shitty Boyz. Johnson stated during high school their group, “was just different — at least we felt like we were different from the people who went to that school. We made a rap group, just hung out in our little circle”[7].
Career
editMusic
editJohnson would release music with other members of Shitty Boyz, when Johnson was 17[1]. Johnson states that in 10th grade, "Me and the ShittyBoyz — StanWill and TrDee — we all went to school together. Stan had a studio in his crib. Well, not a studio, but everything needed to record us on." [6]. Johnson and the rest of Shitty Boyz would then go on to release their first mixtape, Bin Reaper in 2019[4].
From 2020-2021 Babytron would release Sleeve Nash, Back To The Future, and Luka Troncic[4][8].
On October 29th 2021, Babytron would release Bin Reaper 2, a Halloween themed album, utilizing many pop culture references such as samples from Harry Potter, and referencing Scooby-Doo in his lyrics[4].
On March 4th, 2022, Babytron released his 6th studio album titled Megatron, including 23 songs, featuring two other rappers such as DaBoii and GlockBoys Teejae, produced by Danny G. and Helluva[5].
Musical style
editJohnson's lyrics revolve around various types of scams, while at the same time being delivered incredibly quickly. Most of the beats used on Johnson's songs use 1980s inspired synths and samples, with a modern trap remix layered on top of it. Johnson stated in an interview with the RollingStone that scamming is where he "came from. Scamming. So I still talk about it. It’s like an origin, it’s like me, I can’t change me", though noting that he "might talk about scamming 5% of the song or 1% of the song or something and they still consider it scam rap, I definitely wouldn’t consider myself a scam rapper though"[4].
Discography
editMixtapes
editAlbums
edit- Sleeve Nash (2020)[4]
- Back To The Future (2020)[1]
- Luka Troncic (2021)[4]
- Lewis and Clark (2021)[8]
- Bin Reaper 2 (2021)[1]
- Megatron (2022)[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Ihaza, Jeff; Ihaza, Jeff (2021-11-10). "Meet BabyTron, Your Favorite Rapper's Favorite Rapper". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ^ "https://twitter.com/_babytron/status/1269118245619073025". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ III, Robby Seabrook IIIRobby Seabrook. "The Break Presents - BabyTron". XXL Mag. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Nast, Condé. "BabyTron: Bin Reaper". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ^ a b c d e "BabyTron announces new project Megatron, shares new single "6 Star Wanted Level"". The FADER. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ^ a b ago, Music-4 months (2022-03-11). "First Look Friday: BabyTron Will Rap Over Anything". Okayplayer. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "BabyTron is Michigan's next rap star with no plans to go Hollywood". mlive. 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ^ a b "Lewis & Clark by BabyTron & StanWill". Genius. Retrieved 2022-07-07.