Revisit MD Discovery and Featured Artist BabyTron

The cover for Michigan rapper BabyTron’s mixtape ‘Megatron 2.’

BabyTron’s MegaTron 2 mixtape hit streaming platforms last October—which makes this the perfect time to go retrospective on the rapper’s career as a whole. Perhaps he’s come on your radar given the big collab this summer with Eminem on the single “Tobey.” The track peaked at #7 on Billboard’s Hip Hop chart. Here’s everything you need to know about the Michigan product’s path so far.

What’s most obvious in the earliest, and really all, of BabyTron’s releases is the Michigan flow that gave rise to previous viral sensations like Teejayx6. It’s a no-pauses, rapid-fire cadence that borders on being off-beat, a style of rapping that, from the moment you press play, instantly places Motor City MCs. Much like Teejayx6, the first few singles and projects that Tron put out were at the very least “scamming-adjacent,” carrying jargon specific to that endeavor, like the title of his Bin Reaper mixtape series or less coded allusions like a song from that tape’s tracklist, “Scampire.”

Lifting credit cards wasn’t the only topic that the Michigan rapper felt comfortable tackling though. Above all else, his wacky, left-field references were the cause of the most social engagement. That became a hallmark of his music, as he is equally comfortable pulling references from PS2 games as he is from the 2005 Charlotte Hornets. Take “Bag Szn,” a 2019 release, where, in the span of 4 bars, he raps, “Yeah, I punch and I rap, Def Jam Vendetta” and “Sent fifteen out the rocket, boy that’s a Clint Capela.”

BabyTron’s Breakout with “Jesus Shuttlesworth”

Far before BabyTron’s MegaTron 2, “Jesus Shuttlesworth” was his breakout single. It caught on for all the reasons mentioned, as well as some unorthodox production choices that gave it a genuine meme quality. In the following years, he only gained momentum, much of that owed to an important co-sign from Lil Yachty. Already featuring on that Bin Reaper project, the Atlanta rapper became a central figure in the Michigan rap scene when he formalized his appreciation for the genre by dropping his Michigan Boy Boat album. Rife with familiar faces from the state like Icewear Vezzo and Sada Baby, the album gave Lil Boat the chance to return the favor, enlisting BabyTron for their second collab, “Hybrid.” On top of exposing Tron to a brand-new, wide audience, it established a formula for how his off-kilter sound could mesh with some of the industry’s biggest players.

The “mixtape” branding that his projects come with isn’t just a marketing ploy. Truly, his work ethic is a dead ringer for the rappers of the 2000s, with BabyTron dropping 16 times in the four years since his breakout. Some, like THEY WON’T CLEAR THIS or Dookie Brothers, provide the rapper the chance to go out of his comfort zone. The latter was a collaboration with another local artist, TrDee, and the former saw Tron taking his talents industry-wide, rapping over other artists’ beats a la Lil Wayne’s No Ceilings.

As The Releases Have Piled Up, the Michigan MC Keeps Innovating

At the end of the day, this artist’s bread and butter is still his solo projects, and long-time fans have been well-fed in that regard. A BabyTron album usually runs 20 tracks and an hour plus, plenty of time to showcase what makes him such an interesting case on the mic. His latest, MegaTron 2, saw him unite with two other rappers who first caught a wave with their sense of humor. “IRL” features BLP Kosher, a decidedly Tron-like artist in his own right, and there are plenty of lyrical highlights they bring to the table. In a back-and-forth first verse, they swap lines like, “Pull up with a shrink ray and turn him to a molecule / I’ll go back and forth with Tron but we’ll still let them choppers duel / What I’m smoking give me jetlag, I smell like rocket fuel.”

BabyTron Unites With Some Notable Names on MegaTron 2

Later in the tracklist comes “Ice Cream.” It has an appearance from RiFF RAFF alongside a true posse cut—Certified Trapper, YN Jay and Soulja Boy are all also featured on the song. Its instrumentation is just as Michigan as he is over top—a smattering of perc and synth sections that are simultaneously bouncy and lowkey. And of course, some choice BabyTron lyrics as well: “Sometimes the L’s come before the dubs settle / Blowin’ zottie, eyes red like I popped a blood vessel.” As time has gone on and the “how did he think of that” dust settles, it’s clear that BabyTron should no longer be treated like a novelty. He’s a serious talent on the mic, attracting a dedicated fanbase and earning him a litany of big cosigns since the days of “Jesus Shuttlesworth.”

You can find Megatron 2, as well as all the music mentioned here, on all streaming platforms.