Baby

"Baby" is a song by Joeboy, released on 1 March 2019 as the lead single and track from his debut EP, Love & Light. The visualizer video by Poka premiered the same day, while the Justin Campos-directed music video was released on 1 May. Joeboy first performed the song at Trace in the City in August. He explained the inspiration behind it to Opera News, "It was actually a friend's experience. He really likes this girl but her show off is something else. So, the idea of 'Baby' is based on the type of relationship he has with the girl. That's what inspired it"."Interview: JoeBoy Speaks on Striking Gold With "Baby"". Opera News. 26 December 2019.
To Rolling Stone, Joeboy shared, "While I was writing "Baby", I was depressed because I was in my final year at uni. There was this pressure of what I wanted to do with my life after I finished school. And I used to be scared of the idea of a nine-to-five. My spirit does not align with that type of rigid lifestyle. I knew I would have to do it if I needed to, but it wasn't something I was excited about. So that came up, and I was just praying to God that this music thing works because I just couldn't do a nine-to-five. After I finished writing "Baby", I took it to the studio to record. Then I sent it to Mr Eazi, and he loved it. By that time, we had already started talking with a Ghanaian artist and we were about to shoot a video for the song I made with him. I called Mr Eazi and I told him I didn't want to drop that song with the Ghanaian artist anymore, and that I'd rather drop "Baby". We dropped "Baby", and it blew up beyond our expectations. I assure you, nobody saw that coming. I knew the song was great, but I didn't see it being that big".Solomon, Robert (26 May 2022). "'There's So Much Greatness Ahead of Me': Nigerian Star Joeboy on Why He's a 'Young Legend'". Rolling Stone.
== Background ==
Initially Joeboy was supposed to do a collaboration with "a big Ghanaian artist", where he visited Ghana in December 2020 for two weeks. However, he had to return to Lagos because of the flight's date back home, and attempted a reschedule to shoot but had complications with timing. Meanwhile, his producer BeatsByKO sent a beat, which was by Dëra who was "looking for anyone to jump on it". Producer Dëra recalled making the beat and sending it to an artist, though it didn't work out. A friend suggested sending it to one of their own friends, where Joeboy received it and contacted Dëra the next day, asking for the full beats. Within five hours, the entire song was recorded."(Joeboy - Baby) Studio X: The Making of Baby by Dëra || FreeMe TV". YouTube. 24 August 2019.
Joeboy recorded the song in Akoka with sound engineer OxygenMix, and called Eazi to drop the song instead of doing the shoot with the Ghanaian artist. Due to missing the MasterClass in South Africa because of Visa issues, the videoshoot was delayed, which was why Eazi came up with the idea of a visualizer. Regarding the visualizer video, Joeboy commented, "It's even more relatable than the official video. It's that hard to beat. Mr Eazi actually came up with an idea for a visualizer. The crazy thing was that I had never been in contact with Poka, the creator. We didn't even have prior discussion on what it'll be like. Empawa's Distribution Team Lead, Ikenna just said 'We'll be dropping a visualizer first for the song days after its release'. I opined that it should drop alongside the audio. By how the industry is now wired, if you drop music without any visual representation, it might not exactly pick up. People won't just look at your artwork and check you out. They need enough reason to know you're worth it even if it's a minute clip. [...] The song however dropped at midnight and Ikenna sent me the visualizer later in the morning. On seeing the first ten seconds, I was stunned because there was no prior conversation about any possible concept for the visualizer. I daresay it's comic effect assisted 'Baby's success. It does resonate with both kids and elders. It's an all-rounder".
== Lyrics ==
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== Gallery ==
File:Joeboy - Baby (Visualizer)
File:Joeboy - Baby (AUX Sessions)
File:Joeboy - Baby (Live at emPawa Room)
== References ==
Category:2019 songs
Category:Love & Light
Category:Singles
Category:Songs
Category:Songs with acoustic versions
Category:Songs with music videos