On Friday (Jan. 3), Lil Baby stepped into the new year with his fourth studio LP, WHAM (or Who Hard As Me). The project consists of 15 tracks and contributions from Future, GloRilla, Rylo Rodriguez, Travis Scott, 21 Savage and Young Thug, the last of whom appeared on the highly anticipated collaboration “Dum, Dumb, and Dumber.” The recently freed artist rapped, “Shawty mad, ain’t goin’ back and forth/ Never heard a rich n**ga fuss/ Heard these n**gas going out sad,” before paying homage to late YSL talent Lil Keed.

WHAM was accompanied by a visual for another standout, “F U 2x.” On the DJ Champ-produced offering, Lil Baby declared, “Claim to be a player, but I f**ked your wife/ You ain’t nothin’ to a real hitter, f**k your life/ All she want, a young n**ga to f**k her right/ Middle fingers in the air, f**k ya twice.” The black-and-white clip was directed by Shaq Simmons and is largely centered around shots of the Atlanta emcee performing with his masked crew in tow.

During an appearance on Lil Yachty’s “A Safe Place Podcast,” Lil Baby broke down the subject matter behind his latest body of work, his first since the 2022 chart-topper It’s Only Me. He also revealed that WHAM was intended to be a double album, with another – titled Dominique – set to arrive in February.

“I still put some of the songs that I was gonna use for Dominique on WHAM ‘ cause I know my fanbase really want to hear them certain songs,” he explained. “WHAM is more me on some young n**ga s**t – fast cars, girls, jewelry, money. You know, the turnt lifestyle. And Dominique is more the serious me, more personal. ... That’s a part of the new journey I’m on. I hate the word vulnerable, but I’m gonna be more open to my fans and my audience.”