Posted by At this point, trying to name a better bromance than the one NBA player James Harden and Quality Control rapper Lil Baby share is proving to be extremely difficult.
In an interview with Billboard Thursday (January 28), HipHopDX’s 2020 Rapper Of The Year is adding even more context to their intriguing relationship by discussing how he and Harden connected on a deeper level as a result of the famous hooper’s love for music. In fact, while addressing a tweet hyping a new collaboration with Drake from JH13’s former teammate DeMarcus Cousins, Baby revealed Harden has a personal home studio where he and multiple rappers have recorded at.
“Me and Drake got a lot of songs together, right,” Baby says posing a rhetorical question. “It just so happened that one of the songs I recorded was at Jame’s studio. I ain’t delete the songs out the computer so the songs were still [there]. James probably got the team at the house and they just listening in the studio. So when I seen [Boogie’s tweet], I was like, ‘Damn. How did he hear this song before?’ [Laughs] I was like, ‘James you got some basketball players in there?’ That’s how that came out. I don’t even know the song he heard, honestly.”
This track from baby and drake ??♂️it’s over …
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) December 20, 2020
Lil Baby goes on to tell the story of how James Harden indirectly facilitated his recently leaked collaboration with Meek Mill.
“There’s a verse getting leaked,” he says. “It’s going around now. It’s a song with me and Meek Mill. It ain’t out yet. I’m telling Meek we gotta go and drop this song. It’s a piece of me, man. Meek already had the song at James Harden’s house. Like I’m saying, he left it on the computer. I was just listening to it and I said I’m gonna get on here. I just got on it.”
Baby is convinced that harden has what it takes to identify a hit record and even told Billboard he believes the the NBA scoring champion doubles as a record executive. “He’s an A&R for sure,” he adds. “He got a real ear for music. That’s how me and him linked on another level. He really into music.”
James Harden Gifts Lil Baby With $100K, Richard Mille Watch & Prada Bag For His Birthday
Last December HipHopDX reported the former Rockets shooting guard defied the league’s COVID-19 protocol and attended Baby’s packed birthday bash in the midst of his absence from the beginning portion of Houston’s training camp. He actually made headlines upon his return, receiving criticism from former NBA champion Stephen Jackson for his unprofessionalism, and instantly became an Internet meme upon returning to the floor for the Rockets as fans began comparing the visibly out-of-shape basketball star with Rick Ross — crowning him “Thick James Harden.”
Revisit DX’s 2020 HipHop Awards to see the full list of rappers Lil Baby beat out for the Rapper Of The Year crown.