It would feel wrong to not give Charlotte native DaBaby a spot of praise for his complete takeover in an age in which it feels almost every week brings the rise of a promising new, flashy hip hop act. In an age so focused on the teenage star on the cusp of reinventing the sounds of synths or mastering the complex nature of distortion, DaBaby has managed to remain amongst the most creative and promising in the litter of today’s hip hop stars. Seeing a wealth of success with his own work, drawing the attention of many fans and established artists alike with his energetic presence and animated delivery it felt as if each pressing year was becoming more and more like DaBabys to claim.
With that being said, there is a point of criticism that has closely and eagerly followed DaBaby’s rise to the top. Despite his feats of success and fame, DaBaby has always struggled with diversifying his sound. With each guest appearance and full-length album sounding like an epic saga that prolonged a singular sound that potentially posed to be both a career-defining and ending sound. On his latest single “Find My Way,” DaBaby seeks to break the mold, finally proving to audiences he has what it takes to deviate from his otherwise extremely curated comfort zone, pulling into his bag of tricks and expanding flow-based catalog.
The production on the track whilst not a complete shift from his otherwise bombastic and energetic instrumentals adds to his stylistic overhaul. Built upon a foundation of crisp, skittery percussion matched with warm, low register bass embellishments the instrumental carries the necessary thickness and presence to stand tall against DaBaby’s vocal performance. Additionally laced into the mix is a sporadic explosive clutter of bassy synth hits that keep the instrumental fresh and unpredictable. Atop these standard yet well-pronounced features is an almost hypnotic guitar melody. The dreamy ascending refrain that plays throughout brings the soft and solemn sounds needed in order to truly encapsulate the vulnerable and personal sentiment of the track. The elegantly smooth sound not only ties the instrumental perfectly to the narrative of the song but it additionally poses a sound unfamiliar and foreign to the DaBaby catalog, only serving as further experimentation on his deviant track.
Whilst DaBaby during past ventures has never shone away from injecting windows into his personal life and deeper subject matter into tracks, never has he described a frame of mind as lost and distanced from reality than now. He finds himself lost, conflicted and torn between two mindsets and he attempts to piece together the remnants of his life after crumbling in the face of the cold confrontation of heartbreak. Constantly referring to his attempts to “find his way back home”, DaBaby’s conveyed character through the narrative of the lyrics is one that has clearly lost his way during the aftermath of loss. This classic almost hometown hero, attempting to return to one’s humble roots is not only an act DaBaby fits awfully well, but also one you can’t help but support. It is this constant desire to eject not only his character but fragments of his story, whether that be in the form of hardship or ecstatic celebratory behaviour, that make DaBaby such a compelling figure and performer.
The vocal portion of the track is where DaBaby flexes his most adventurous performance to date, consequently being the point in which the song derails. In an attempt to bring a whole new element of vocal performance to his act, DaBaby tries his hand at singing the chorus. In doing so he removes almost any and all sense of charisma, exposing his inherent weakness as a singer and his limited talents. Stripped back, emotionally uninvested and devoid of all of his naturally energetic and aggressive presence the chorus destroys the cohesion of the song. The problems are only accentuated towards the back end of the chorus in which the vocals trail off and hit a lull as DaBaby loses almost tone and volume, trailing into a weak synthetic and artificial downward spiral. Additionally, that some explosive synth sound that bolstered the production comes off as more of an invasive presence during the hook, overshadowing DaBaby’s barely present vocals and leaving an awkward and cluttered sensation. On his true first attempts to radicalise his oversaturated and over-represented sound DaBaby fails to sustain a valiant effort and exposes his inability to even hold a tune.
Coming off the bat of his recent feature on Lil Yachty’s “Oprah’s Bank Account” it would appear that after solidifying his position within hip hop DaBaby has opted to enter a transitional stage that finally sees some form of experimentation. Toying with not only the usage of vocal synthesisers and modifiers but also finally incorporating multiple flows that didn’t derive from the same copy and pasted strain he would rely on time and time again, DaBaby is finally giving the fans a more expansive look into his capabilities. Whilst this track additionally incorporates a flow that deviates from the standard DaBaby showing, it didn’t feel like enough of a statement of energetic showing to pick up the clunky and horribly out of place fragments that were his attempts at singing. “Find My Way” is by no means an offensive song, but it is strangely misguided and incoherent. If it means DaBaby’s catalog will need to suffer from strenuous and prolonged mishaps and missteps to ultimately form a sound outside of his singular preexisting one so be it. Whilst the experimentation is appreciated, the track would suggest that further attempts of sung work would be better off in the hands of a featured artist, whilst DaBaby would be implored to continue manipulating and evolving his artistry as the contagiously charismatic rapper.
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