DX Rising Star Baby Tate Shares How Her Cousin Helped Her Find Confidence To Rap

Exclusive – HipHopDX’s 2022 Rising Star Baby Tate stopped by for an interview and, among other things, spoke about how her late cousin, Taylor, was instrumental in developing her confidence as an artist.

“Yeah, my cousin, she used to always push me to sing, and one thing that she used to tell me was if you don’t use your gift, you’re going to lose it, and I used to be so annoyed, because this is when we were in Jersey,” Tate told DX. “My cousin lived in Jersey. And we would just be outside riding bikes or something, doing kids’ stuff and she would tell her friends, ‘Ooh my cousin can sing, my cousin can sing. Tate sing for them.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, again! Can we just please play?’”

She continued, “And she’s like, ‘No, you need to sing because you can sing. So, show them that you can sing.’ And so I would, but yeah, she definitely was very instrumental in my confidence in showing my gifts and talents and I will forever keep her memory alive by continuing to do what she saw that I could do as a little baby.”

The HipHopDX Rising Star also spoke on how she settled on the name Baby Tate.

“I started going by Young Baby Tate in 2015 or so, because it was my Instagram name for the longest, like in high school, and my stage name at first was Tate, which is my given name, and people just kept saying, ‘Coming to the stage, Young Baby Tate,’ she said. “And I just kept being like, ‘It’s just Tate guys, it’s just Tate.’ But I was like, you know it has a ring to it, and now I’m Baby Tate, because I just felt like, I’m growing, I’m getting older, and I won’t technically always be young, but I will technically always be my mom’s baby.”

Baby Tate most recently dropped off a deluxe version of her 2020 EP After The Rain, which featured appearances from Flo Milli and 6lack, but told HipHopDX she’ll be dropping Mani Pedi this spring.

“This year I’m manifesting the most successful project I’ve ever dropped in life,” she said. “I’m so excited for Mani Pedi to drop this Spring.”

Watch the clip with Baby Tate below.