Although the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has forced many rappers to make adjustments within the music industry including postponing their live shows, Lil Baby says he's actually counting more paper now than prior to the pandemic.
During an interview with Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (Dec. 8), Lil Baby explained to cohosts Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy that his bag has been bigger despite the impact of the virus around the world.
"I had the biggest album, the biggest point of my career being through the pandemic," Baby tells. "So, the money that I'm making now in the pandemic is still bigger than the money that I was making before the pandemic. If you get what I'm saying. The level that I done went to, even though it's a pay cut, it's damn near the same."
Lil Baby also admits he was affected by the pandemic financially, but he isn't stressed because he'd been saving his earnings.
Earlier in the conversation, C Tha God asked the Quality Control Records artist how much he makes a show now and Lil Baby replied "$400,000." The radio hosts revisited this dollar amount when discussing how much more money Baby would've made this year had the country not been on pause due to combating the deadly virus.
"Even though I ain't doing no shows, that number that you calculated, I ain't making that, but I ain't counting that," the Atlanta rapper continues. "I'm counting on whatever I used to make, I'm still in that bracket. I was ’posed to make it to the $40 million, $50 million a year off of touring bracket. But I'm still making more than what I was making when I just was getting 100 bands [$100,000] a show or whatever the case may be."
Elsewhere in the chat, Lil Baby reveals that he's only had one show all year. He is likely referring to the concert he had in Birmingham, Ala. back in March, which ended abruptly because of gunfire, just before the country shut down.
"Since I started rapping, I been booked up," Baby says when asked how much money he's missed out on by not being able to tour. "I've been booked up two, three times a weekend. I only did one show this year and it's the end of the year. I did 100 shows maybe, at least, in a year. So it's like, the whole year, I did one show this year."
After doing the math, Charlamagne calculated that Lil Baby could've made $40 million this year off shows alone. "On the low end, 100 shows is on the low end," the 26-year-old rhymer adds. "It's 50 weekends, that's like, two shows a weekend. That's like, Friday and Saturday. Fuck around and go on tour. I would've went on tour, for sure. That's 40 shows at one time."
Lil Baby's price doesn't appear to be coming down. In fact, back in June, he said he's charging $100,000 for a feature.
Despite COVID-19 causing Baby to divert some of his plans this year, he still managed to have a two-times platinum-selling album with My Turn, earned gold and platinum RIAA certifications and snagged three Grammy Awards nominations for Best Rap Song ("The Bigger Picture"), Best Rap Performance ("The Bigger Picture") and Best Rap/Sung Performance ("Drip Too Hard").
Check out Lil Baby discuss how much he's made during the pandemic around the 11:06-mark below.
Read 10 Wild Stories That Took Place During Hip-Hop Tours