‘Untrapped: The Story Of Lil' Baby’ Sheds Light On A Young Father Grappling With Fame

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Early in the film, we see long forgotten video snippets of Lil’ Baby when he was practically still a baby (around 9 years old), racing his beloved sisters up and down the block.

When those endearing images are juxtaposed against the backdrop of his unwillingness to be a rapper in the first place, as well as his well-known ties to ATL street life, viewers see a young man who finally listened to trusted voices of reason in his life, such as producers Pierre Thomas and Kevin Lee. 

Directed by Karam Gill (Supervillain, Ice Cold),  Untrapped also shows the love that Lil’ Baby showers upon his children. as well as the sting of disappointment that often was apparent in Lil’ Baby’s voice when he discussed growing up in a single parent household.

“I’ve known Coach (Kevin Lee) and Pee (Pierre Thomas) for years at this point. We’ve done things for City Girls and Migos and other artists,” Karam told HipHopDX on the red carpet. “He called me at 5 am and asked if we wanted to do this. It’s another job in our partnership, Quality Films and my company, MGX. We’ve done so many films over the years.”

“I think a lot of people in the documentary space get caught up in trying to make a point,” Gill said when asked what he believes is key to making a great documentary. “I think that, at the end of the day, people come home and put on a documentary because they want to be entertained.”

As was the case with so many documentaries that have highlighted rappers and urban culture in the past, Untrapped’s strength is its effort to put a human face on a young man who was long ago relegated as an irretrievable drug dealer and gangster. 

Born into poverty, Lil’ Baby was ambiguous about his situation as a small child. However, as he grew in age, so too did his desire to acquire the trappings and bangles of wealth. In the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood that he called home, crime, poverty, gang violence and high incarceration rates were the norm.

For anyone to make it out of such circumstances is admirable. However, for Lil’ Baby, whose street popularity as a gangster and the fast money that comes with that lifestyle, the streets were his home.

It’a revealed that becoming a rapper wasn’t something Lil Baby wanted to do, but was eventually coaxed into after serving a two years sentence on drug and gun charges at 18-years-old.

 



In the documentary, Lil’ Baby’s hit “The Bigger Picture,” which he released after joining protests following the death of George Floyd, is presented as a key point in his evolution as an artist.

During a Q & A session that followed a screening of the film, COO of Quality Music and the film’s co-producer Kevin Lee, affectionately referred to as Coach K, said he was taken aback by the protest song when he first heard it.

“It was incredible. But he’s a great storyteller,” Lee said. “All he was doing was telling the story of his life and what was going on around him and all the young guys that were in the hood. He seen what was happening and he wanted to express it.” 

Producer and mentor Pierre Thomas, aka Pee, seconded that notion.

“I’ve heard songs from a lot of artists talking about what’s going on in their town and it just didn’t click, no offense to anyone. This wasn’t a gimmick for him. I remember when he called me that morning like ‘Bro, I’m about to get ready to go out here with these people (to protest). I remember I was still in the house, scared of Coronavirus. A lot of people were dying at the time. And he was like, ‘I’m going out there with those people.’

“And when he came back he said he was gonna make a song. When he sent it to me I knew it was going to resonate with a lot of people.  I had heard some of the other songs already but I knew this song was going to connect to the people better than any of those other songs out there.”

 

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