My Turn (Lil Baby album)

In October 2019, Lil Baby revealed plans to release his next studio album before the end of 2019, but was delayed until the following year.[1] The album's artwork and release date were revealed in January 2020.[2][3] Lil Baby took to Instagram Live and explained the album's title:

"I called it My Turn 'cause I feel like everybody else had a lil' turn. It's my turn now. Everybody dropped their mixtapes, their albums – go number 1, number 2, number 3"[4]

The album's lead single, "Woah", was released for digital download on November 8, 2019. The song was produced by Quay Global.[5] The music video was released on December 6, 2019.[6]

The album's second single, "Sum 2 Prove", was released on January 10, 2020. The song was produced by Twysted Genius.[7] The music video was released on February 18, 2020.[8]

"Emotionally Scarred" was serviced to rhythmic contemporary radio as the album's third single on April 15, 2020.[9] The music video was released on April 30.[10]

The album's fourth single, "All In", was released for digital download on April 23, 2020, as well an accompanying music video.[11]

The artwork features a pastoral painting that illustrates Lil Baby atop a large jutting rock, with water, baby goats and greenery surrounding him. He's shown lighting up cannabis, the smoke adding to the haziness of the artwork.[2][19]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	63/100[20]
Metacritic	66/100[21]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[22]
Exclaim!	6/10[23]
NME	[24]
Pitchfork	6.6/10[25]
Rolling Stone	[26]

My Turn was met with generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 66, based on five reviews.[21] Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as 63 out of 100, based on five reviews.[20]

AllMusic's critic Fred Thomas gave the album a positive review, praising Baby's vocal delivery as well as his flow on the album. Thomas further says that "Lil Baby manages to keep every moment fresh, finding a unique and unlikely midway between artistic inspiration and commercially viable entertainment".[22] Writing for NME, Kyann-Sian Williams gave the album a mixed to positive review, praising many of the features on the album as well as Baby's delivery, although stating that the album "starts of a little slow and dreary". Furthermore, Williams said that the album "is an enjoyable collection of tracks for his loyal fans. He [Lil Baby] would do well, though, to stay away from the whiny sounds and rap with a little bit more clarity".[24] Pitchfork's critic Sheldon Pearce had mixed opinions regarding the album, saying that "the music is all work and no inspiration". He implied that Baby's songwriting and lyricism has improved, but also stating that he "doesn't really have any charisma, or flavor, or personality".[25]

A. Harmony of Exclaim! said, "The stuffed effort could be Lil Baby's attempt to showcase his growth. But one mark of artistic maturity is exercising restraint – less is often more."[23] Writing for Rolling Stone, Danny Schwartz gave the album an overall mixed review, commending Baby's lyrical skills, saying "Baby's great strength is that he conveys emotion effortlessly; he doesn't need to formally unpack old traumas to bear them out". However, Schwartz mentioned that the "excessive length" of My Turn results in "a lot of filler" songs. Nonetheless, he described these songs as "premium grade".[26]

My Turn debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 197,000 album-equivalent units (including just under 10,000 pure album sales) in its first week, marking Lil Baby's first US number-one album.[30] Following My Turn's first week of release, 12 songs off the album charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, which gave Lil Baby a career total of 47 songs on the chart, putting him at a tie with Prince and Paul McCartney.[31] On May 15, 2020, My Turn was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over one million units in the United States.[32] After logging 13 consecutive weeks in the top 6, My Turn returned to number one on the Billboard 200, on the chart dated June 20, 2020.[33] It stayed at the top spot for two additional weeks, topping the chart for four weeks in total.[34]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes, Tidal, and ASCAP.[35][36]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an uncredited co-producer[37]

Sample credits

• "Heatin Up" contains an uncredited interpolation from "Hot", written by Jeffery Williams and Sergio Kitchens, performed by Young Thug and Gunna.[14]
• "Gang Signs" contains elements from "Throw Your Sets", written by Paul Beauregard, performed by Tear Da Club Up Thugs.
• "Humble" contains a sample from "Up Against the Wind", written by Christopher Young and David Goldsmith, as performed by Lori Perry.

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Tidal.[35]

• Matthew "Mattazik Muzik" Robinson – recording (all tracks)
• Todd Bergman – recording (track 15)
• Thomas "Tillie" Mann – mixing (all tracks)
• Stephen "DotCom" Farrow – mixing assistant (tracks 5, 6, 13)
• Princeton "Perfect Harmony" Terry – mixing assistant (tracks 1–19, 20)
• Chip Cannon – mixing assistant (tracks 1–4, 7–12, 14, 16–18, 20)
• Colin Leonard – mastering (tracks 1–14, 16–26)
• Ian Sefchick – mastering (track 15)