''It's Only Me'' is the third studio album by American rapper

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...

. It was released on October 14, 2022 through

Quality Control Music Quality Control Music (also known as Quality Control or QC) is an American hip hop record label founded by Kevin "Coach K" Lee ( COO) and Pierre "P" Thomas (CEO) in March 2013. Its productions were distributed through Universal Music Distribution ...

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, Wolfpack, and 4 Pockets Full. The album features guest appearances from Nardo Wick,

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

Fridayy Francis Leblanc, known professionally as Fridayy, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Philadelphia who is currently signed to Def Jam Recordings. He is known for appearing on the song " Forever" by Lil Baby and ...

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that current ...

Rylo Rodriguez Ryan Preston Adams (born September 30, 1993), professionally known as Rylo Rodriguez, is an American rapper signed to Lil Baby's record label 4 Pockets Full (4PF) and Virgin Music. He is known for his frequent collaborations with Lil Baby. Ea ...

, Jeremih,

EST Gee George Albert Stone III (born May 11, 1994), known professionally as EST Gee, is an American rapper. He is signed to Yo Gotti's Collective Music Group (CMG), Interscope Records and Warlike. His fifth mixtape, ''Bigger Than Life or Death'', rele ...

, and

Pooh Shiesty Lontrell Donell Williams Jr. (born November 8, 1999), better known by his stage name Pooh Shiesty, is an American rapper. He is signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Records and Atlantic Records. He rose to fame in 2020 from his collaborations with the r ...

. It was supported by two singles: " In a Minute" and " Heyy".

Promotion and release

On April 8, 2022, Lil Baby released the lead single of the album "In a Minute". The rapper first teased the album in August 2022 on his social media. On September 2, 2022, he announced the title and release date of the album. The day also saw the release of the non-album single "

Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

". The cover art depicts different stages of Lil Baby's life as an allusion to

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...

. The visual serves as a response to protests over his inclusion on Mount Rushmore-murals which included him over other Atlanta rappers. On October 10, 2022, he released the second single of the album, "Heyy", and revealed the tracklist.

Critical reception

''It's Only Me'' received generally positive reviews from critics. At

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an

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score of 66, based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In a positive review, '' Clash'' wrote, "This album undoubtedly sees Lil Baby solidify his spot and reaffirm the greatness he’s presented the past few years," adding, "It captures the trials of his journey so far whilst celebrating his current success and the gross potential to do even more." Alphonse Pierre of ''

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'' was more mixed, writing, "Lil Baby is at his best when he's using istricks to switch between moods, but there's just one on ''It's Only Me'', and it’s indifference: not in the too-cool-to-care kind of way, but in the way when words have no weight behind them." In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, it was claimed that, "Baby approaching nearly every track with repetitive flows and lyrics that feel disconnected and static. Ultimately It's Only Me sticks to the formula that's taken Lil Baby to the top, but somehow fails to communicate the personality and creative fire that was hard to miss on earlier albums." Similarly, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

s Niall Smith declared that, "If the trimmings were removed from ‘It’s Only Me’, it might rival his previous releases – instead it’s a few notches shy of greatness." In a more positive review for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', Jayson Buford stated that, "Most of the time, Baby is in prime form here — technical enough to earn his hip-hop cred, and stylistic enough to keep the uncommon kids from feeling like he’s common. When he’s at his best, it’s best to let him gobble you whole."

Commercial performance

''It's Only Me'' debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 dated October 29, 2022, earning 216,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s (including 6,500 pure album sales) in its first week of availability in the United States. The album earned a total of 288.97 million official streams for its tracks, the third-highest figure for one-week streams for an album in 2022. It is Lil Baby's third US number-one album.

Promotion and release

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References