Lil Baby, The Bigger Picture | Track Review 🎵

Although totally unexpected, Lil Baby delivers an insightful, totally worthwhile protest anthem with “The Bigger Picture.”

Sometimes, you really don’t know where your protest songs are coming from. Grammy-nominated rapper Lil Baby has had an incredibly successful year. His 2020 sophomore album, My Turn, has lit up the charts – understatement.  Even so, he’s not the first artist that comes to mind when you expect a deeper, more insightful record, particularly given the trap style.  But guess what? Baby silences the skeptics, including myself, on “The Bigger Picture,” a song that I featured on a music list for times such as these, 13 Powerful Songs Where Black Lives DO Indeed Matter.

“The Bigger Picture” commences with an intro, which sets the tone.  Naturally, the senseless death of George Floyd is the catalyst, as we hear a news clip about the protests in Minneapolis.  The intro fittingly concludes with “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” From there, Lil Baby is on autopilot, blending conscious rap with his beloved trap flow.  Throughout the course of a couple of verses, he’s very honest, thoughtful, and quite insightful about the events that have turned the world upside down.  “I find it crazy the police’ll shoot you and know that you dead, but still tell you to freeze / Fucked up, I seen what I seen,” he spits on the first verse, continuing, “I guess that mean hold him down if he say he can’t breathe.”

There are countless instances where Lil Baby nails it.  “I see blue lights, I get scared and start runnin’,” perfectly captures the fears black men and women have of the police, based on an ugly history.  On the second verse, he supports the protest, but is also sensible, acknowledging that “Corrupted police been the problem where I’m from / But I’d be lyin’ if I said it was all of them.”  Also, incredibly ‘woke,’ on the third verse, he spits, “What happened to COVID? Nobody remember.” Dope! Baby brilliantly sums up “The Bigger Picture” on the chorus:

“It’s bigger than black and white
It’s a problem with the whole way of life
It can’t change overnight
But we gotta start somewhere
Might as well gon’ head start here
We done had a hell of a year
I’ma make it count while I’m here
God is the only man I fear.”

Final Thoughts 

All in all, Lil Baby nails it on “The Bigger Picture.” Again, he’s not necessarily the first musician that I’d ever expect to deliver a protest song, but he definitely comes through.  The biggest takeaway from “The Bigger Picture” is, of course, BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!

Lil Baby • “The Bigger Picture” • Quality Control Music • Release: 6.12.20

Photo Credit: Quality Control Music