In a city like Atlanta, fears of gentrification have haunted Black residents for generations. Now, rapper Lil Baby is doing what he can to prevent the growing displacement of Black families and invest in the city that made him who he is today.
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When he’s not dropping platinum rap songs, Lil Baby– real name Dominique Jones– is making some serious business moves. Most recently, he took fans along as he and his sons, Loyal and Jason, visited his hometown. “Welcome to Oakland City Homes,” the father and son trio say at the start of their YouTube vlog.
Baby was raised in the historic Oakland City neighborhood located in southwestern Atlanta. For decades, Black and poor families lived in the area plagued with crime and underdeveloped streets, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. But over the past ten years, a massive campaign to revive the area has pushed dozens of families out.
“They trying to take our neighborhood, I gotta put my foot down, know what I’m saying? I gotta have me some,” Baby told the vlog. “Save the streets.”
His new plan involves putting his money into Oakland City, buying properties in areas where he used to “hustle” before his rap career took off.
“It was times when this was abandoned, and I still was standing here while it was abandoned. No lights, no water, no nothing. Just me and the smokers,” he explained. During the vlog he told his sons he “made history” in the neighborhood– likely referring to his accomplishments as an Atlanta musician. Now, he wants to do it all again.
Parts of Oakland are still underdeveloped, despite gentrification wreaking havoc on the area. Between 1980 and 2020, 155 historically Black neighborhoods underwent a full racial turnover, going from mostly Black residents to overwhelmingly white, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
There are at least 261,000 fewer Black residents in historically Black neighborhoods now, although experts have estimated that the number could be closer to 500,000 when all gentrified neighborhoods are considered, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. Baby plans to address the growing displacement of Black families by teasing affordable living property options for lower-class families.
Like other rappers native to Atlanta, Baby has a long-standing history of giving back to the city. Last Christmas, he teamed up with fellow rapper Lil Yachty for a toy drive.
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