"Suge" (also known as "Suge (Yea Yea)") is the breakthrough hit by American rapper

DaBaby Jonathan Lyndale Kirk (born December 22, 1991), known professionally as DaBaby (formerly known as Baby Jesus), is an American rapper. After releasing several mixtapes between 2014 and 2018, he rose to mainstream prominence with his debut albu ...

, released as the lead single from his debut studio album ''

Baby on Baby ''Baby on Baby'' is the debut studio album by American rapper DaBaby. It was released on March 1, 2019, by Interscope Records and South Coast Music Group. It features guest appearances from fellow rappers Offset, Rich Homie Quan, Rich the Kid and ...

'' on April 23, 2019. It reached number seven on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song's title is a reference to former music executive

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. (; born April 19, 1965) is a American former music executive, convicted felon, and the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight is considered a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in ...

. It was produced by

JetsonMade Tahj Morgan (born July 27, 1996), professionally known as jetsonmade (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer, songwriter and record executive. He has been noted as a pioneer of the growing rap scene in South Carolina and North ...

and Pooh Beatz. The song was later nominated for

Best Rap Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which p ...

and

Best Rap Song The Grammy Award for Best Rap Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rap music genre. Honors in several ...

at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

. "Suge" was ranked as the 2nd best song of 2019 by ''Complex'', and the 12th best by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

.''

Composition and lyrics

"Suge" contains "throbbing production", a beat that sounds like "ticking drums and a croaking synth-bass". The chorus contains a "yeah, yeah" interjection, hence the

subtitle Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...

of the song. The song's lyrics have been described as "brazenly confident", with DaBaby rapping about keeping $32,000 in one of his pockets (and a

Glock Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

in the other), paired with "powerful vocal delivery, clever bars, and an oversize personality".

Critical reception

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said the song "showcases DaBaby's versatility" in sounding "suave" and then being able to "flip the switch". ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

'' called the track "one of the album's best singles and a restless mess of lines", adding that DaBaby "free associates in a way that feels like

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 ...

Commercial performance

"Suge" debuted on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 87 during the week of April 13, 2019, becoming DaBaby's first Hot 100 entry. Suge continued to climb the Hot 100 over the next several weeks, and has since peaked at number seven on the chart and at number three on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. On June 23, 2019, the single was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for sales of over a million digital copies in the United States.

Music video

The music video for "Suge" was released on March 4, 2019. It features DaBaby in a variety of roles, including a mailman,

, and dancing in an office. The video also features an excerpt from the intro song to his previous album, "Taking It Out".

Remix

On August 8, American rapper

Joyner Lucas Gary Maurice "Joyner" Lucas Jr. (born August 17, 1988) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Lucas first received widespread exposure and critical acclaim after the release of his single "Ross Capicchioni" in 2015. In June 2017, he relea ...

and Canadian rapper

Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and convicted felon. He received initial recognition from the mixtape ''Conflicts of My Soul: The 416 Story'', rel ...

ended their feud that started in 2018 by releasing a remix of the song together.

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

also made a non-official remix of the song premiering on her show, Queen Radio and also a snippet of her verse in an Instagram page.

In popular culture

In 2021,

memes A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...

related to the song blew up on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

such as

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. They included

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

descriptions/depictions of DaBaby as a

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

, inspired by his lyrics in the song, where he stated: "I will turn a nigga into a convertible; Push me a lil' nigga top back (Vroom)." DaBaby was then noted for his apparent resemblance to a convertible. The sound effects and producer tags used in the song, such as ‘No Cap’ and ‘Oh Lord,

Another One’ also became very popular.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DaBaby 2019 singles 2019 songs DaBaby songs Interscope Records singles Songs written by DaBaby Internet memes introduced in 2021 Trap music songs