North Carolina rapper DaBaby has explained why he wishes he could quit social media in a surprisingly poetic and wise string of tweets posted on January 7.
The artist, who has risen to stardom off of the back of hits such as ‘Suge’ and ‘BOP’, became one of the biggest names in the game in 2019, working on tracks with the likes of J. Cole, Chance the Rapper and Lil Nas X to name but a few.
However, DaBaby, real name Jonathan Kirk, felt compelled to inspire his followers with some more grounded tweets that seemed to come out of nowhere, explaining why social media is not good for people.
In the first tweet, he said: “If social media wasn’t such a lucrative tool in the business I’m in I wouldn’t even be on it. Lost souls influenced by lost souls. […] I encourage people to have the courage to find themselves without the false sense of security they search for on the internet.”
He continued: “I always preferred to say less because social media ain’t a place for the truth. But lately, I’ve been feeling like it’s my calling to say more.” He also said he doesn’t want “to be identified as one of these internet MFs.”
This is a sentiment that many people with a bigger platform express at some point, saying that they feel compelled to offer their fans their version of the truth, nuggets of wisdom or more than simply being a celebrity.
If social media wasn’t such a lucrative tool in the business I’m in I wouldn’t even be on it.
Lost souls influenced by lost souls.
I hate to see it.
I encourage people to have the courage to find themselves without the false sense of security they search for on the internet.
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) January 7, 2020
I always preferred to say less because social media ain’t a place for the truth.
But lately I been feeling like it’s my calling to say more.
ion know how I wanna play it though, I respect my mind too much to allow myself to be indentifed as one of these internet mfs.
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) January 7, 2020
He later posted a couple more tweets that seemed to target followers that think he’s “sad” just because he “said something with substance.”
He said that “the internet is so lost” that if he says something with “substance” he’s sad. “B**ch, I’m good. God just moved me to send out a message this morning. Don’t send pity where it isn’t needed. Just soak up the game for what it’s worth. Sh*t, it may not be worth anything at all.”
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He put an end to the discussion with one final tweet, expressing that fans and followers might pay his more substantive messages no attention, because he’s just a rapper.
The internet so lost they think if a nigga say something with substance he sad.
Bitch I’m GOOD😂
GOD just moved me to send out a message this morning. Don’t send pity where it isn’t needed.
Just soak up the game for what it’s worth. Shit it may not be worth nothing at all 🤷🏾♂️
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) January 7, 2020
But y’all don’t pay me no mind.
I’m just a rap nigga wit a iPhone using his fingers to put words together.
Let me go back to saying less before I scare MFs away 🤫
— DaBaby (@DaBabyDaBaby) January 7, 2020
Of course, the irony is that DaBaby is posting this all on social media, a fact that likely isn’t lost on him.
DaBaby’s most recent album, Kirk, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, marking the rapper’s first No. 1 project.
Since then, he found himself facing a short imprisonment for alleged battery charges – something he took to his nine million Instagram followers to ask them to stop talking about on January 4, a few days after being released.
DaBaby isn’t the first major personality to come out and speak about the flaws of social media, but he makes a compelling point and probably sees the dark sides of social media more than most, given his large following.
Whether this means his social presence will shorten in the coming weeks remains to be seen, but if one thing’s clear, it’s that were he not a rapper, he might not want to be on social media at all.