Nepo babies have been all over the news the last couple of years, but there’s a new sort of baby in town, baby. According to a recent article from Dazed coining the term, we may have subtly entered the era of the rapo baby—that is, the child of a famous rapper who also raps. (Rap + nepo = rapo, apparently.)
While hip-hop faces a reported decline overall, with the likes of K-Pop, Latin and Country music reigning supreme, the future of the genre may truly be the children of the likes of Young Thug, Childish Gambino, Kanye, Drake and Westside Gunn, who have all put out music recently.
Who are the “rapo babies”?
For instance, on July 8th, a collaboration was previewed at the Bando Stone listening party. The song in question, “Chaka Khan,” included Childish Gambino/Donald Glover’s son Legend rapping “My mama knew she was feeding the goat.”
Other recent Kidz Bop IRL rap tunes have included North West’s appearance on Kanye and Ty Dolla Sign’s “Talking.”
Then there’s Drake’s son Adonis showing up on “My Man Freestyle.”
Even Westside Gunn’s daughter WAS Pootie appeared on his tune,“Nigo Louis.”
Last year, rap celebrated its 50th birthday and this new dawn of talent may be just the kick in the pants it needs as it hits middle age. As a recent Billboard article stated, “Rap’s superstars are aging into a different chapter in their careers, less invested in chasing hits.” I guess this means it’s up to the kids.
What about the “rapo babies” of the past?
This trend seems to owe something to, in this writer’s opinion, its true pioneers, namely Blue Ivy and Willow Smith.
Will the genre of hip-hop as we know it be revived in the long term by these talented offspring? It seems likely, though it may take more for hip-hop as a whole to regain its supremacy across the music landscape. Hey, does Vanilla Ice have a kid?
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