It’s no secret that artists charge big bucks for the features that support their lifestyle. Today (May 11), fans learned that “Take Me Home” rapper Vince Staples scored a collab with Lil Baby for free.
The two recently teamed up for “East Point Prayer” which appears on Staples’ Ramona Park Broke My Heart album.
Lil Baby is known to charge six-figures for a feature. In a tweet from June of 2020, the “Drip Too Hard” rapper noted that he requests no less than $100,000 for a collab. That same year, the rapper added that he wanted $200,000 per occasion.
While speaking with radio host Big Boy, Staples revealed how he was able to secure the deal after a meeting at a Motown Records event. Both artists are signed to the legendary label.
“He did it for free,” Staples began. “And I don’t believe in asking nobody to do nothing for free. I believe in whatever you charge – you gotta feed your family, and he did it for free. And you already know, he can charge whatever he wants. It’s funny because I met him at a Motown thing. We was cool and we ain’t really talk like that. And I was like, ‘Lil Baby would sound good on this.’ And I was tryna get it so where we could talk about it. He said, ‘We don’t even have to talk, I’ma do it.’ He just went and did it … he looked out.”
It’s likely that since Lil Baby’s 2020 request his price may have increased significantly after a multitude of hits including Nicki Minaj’s recent track “Do We Have a Problem?” which features the rapper.
During the interview, Staples spoke about his connections having to be organic.
“I gotta hear it, man. It gotta make sense for the song,” Staples said. “I feel like at this point in time, the fans can tell if it’s organic or not. If it’s not an organic feature, it ain’t gon’ work. And I’m happiest that way because I appreciate it. I got some good names, some big people to work with me, so I’m grateful.”
Ramona Park Broke My Heart is Staples’ most recent album. It was released just last month and peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart.