Baby Kia

Baby Kia grew up in Atlanta’s Fulton County at Capitol Homes and moved to the Cleveland Avenue area when he was 8. Basketball occupied much of his time, while artists including YoungBoy Never Broke Again, DMX, Juvenile, Mystikal, and Busta Rhymes shaped his early musical listening.

He began experimenting with his own rhymes at 16 after his younger brother used Kia’s phone to make music through BandLab. Kia later recorded at a neighborhood friend’s home studio, learned Pro Tools, and returned seriously to music after his friend Will encouraged him to work in the booth again.

Kia released his debut EP, Kia World, independently through UnitedMasters in April 2023. The project’s reception among students at his school encouraged him to continue developing his sound, which emphasizes shouted vocals, violent imagery, sparse hooks, and rhythms that often move outside conventional rap patterns.

His 2023 single “Let’s Play a Game” became an early breakout track, while “OD Crashin” brought wider attention through its music video. The video went viral on X in March 2024 after its release the previous month, and its graphic special effects helped introduce Kia’s shrill, chaotic delivery to a much larger audience.

Kia released the Glahh Glahh Boom EP in fall 2023, followed by the mixtape HELL CAN'T SAVE YOU in March 2024. “OD Crashin” and “Let’s Play a Game” anchored the project, whose cover references DMX’s 1998 album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. Kia released his second tape, I PRAY YOU DIE, seven months later.

His music combines Atlanta drill with screamo rap, horrorcore-inspired imagery, dystopian production, a Southern drawl, and elements associated with New York drill. Kia has also explained that some of the extreme scenarios in his lyrics are imaginative rather than accounts of events he personally experienced.

Kia signed with Artist Partner Group in November 2023 after APG A&R Shareef “Reef” Stradford discovered him on Instagram. His manager, Jamil Mitchell, was by his side during the deal. Stradford highlighted Kia’s distinctive voice and unusual phrasing, while APG executive Eli Piccarreta was drawn to his fearless and entertaining approach.

Kia was arrested in summer 2023 and spent about three months in a juvenile facility in connection with an assault with a deadly weapon arrest carrying 14 charges. In October 2024, he was arrested for disruption or interference with the operation of public schools at a Georgia high school. A condition of his bond required him to take a Youth Against Violence course.

He planned to release additional projects and make his touring debut as an opening act on BossMan Dlow’s Dlow Curry Tour. He also intended to earn his GED after leaving school in 11th grade, describing these goals as part of an effort to move away from behavior that had brought him trouble.