You must be a millennial, because only Freaknik veterans can truly appreciate this classic!
In 1997 it sold MILLIONS of copies worldwide and was a #2 Rap and #3 R&B (kept from #1 by Biggie's "Hypnotize") and a #10 Pop hit on LAFACE RECORDS (!!!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Baby_Daddy
"
My Baby Daddy" was a hit single by
B-Rock and the Bizz from their debut album
Porkin' Beans & Wienes. The song used a sample of "
Best of My Love" by
The Emotions.
Released in early 1997, "My Baby Daddy" became one of the year's biggest hits and was top 10 hit for the group, reaching 10 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Less than two months after its release the single had sold 500,000 copies and earned a gold certification on May 28, 1997 from the
Recording Industry Association of America.
---
There were also many "answer" records - the most successful one was "My Baby Mama" by Anquette (on Luke Records)
http://musicrareobscure.blogspot.com/2009/01/anquette.html
---
"My Baby's Daddy"
Thaddeus "T-Bird" Maye, a Mobile-area MC, now residing in Atlanta, Georgia, is most known for his hilarious party rhymes. Today, he's a devout servant of the Christian religion and self-proclaimed 'prayer warrior'. He has no shame about his biggest claim to fame, though: a popular 90's hip-hop dance tune called "My Baby's Daddy". Here, he gives us the rundown of the song's creation.
https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/07/behind_the_scenes_of_alabamas.html
I'm from Bessemer Projects in Prichard, Alabama. I lived there 31 years.
Matter of fact, I was two-years-old when I first moved to Bessemer (Projects). I remember that we were one of the first families to move in when they first put them up.
We had the best projects. Real talk. There wasn't much trouble, man. Every hood is going to get into fights, but we'd be back friends the next day. We didn't do all that shooting like they are doing now.
I grew up inspired by a lot of the old school artists like LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC. They made me want to be a rap artist. I already knew I had it in me, but I had to pursue it.
In the 1980s, I was a local artist, on my own. But, in 1986, I got together with a group of friends from my projects. It was Leevirt Agee and his brother Baron "B-Rock" Agee, Willie Longshaw, Taco and me. We called ourselves B-Rock and the Business Boys. We were an awesome group.
B-Rock was known in Bessemer Projects for practicing with his turntables in the window. He and Leevirt moved there from New York when they were little.
We were the first hip-hop group in Mobile, Alabama. We would play with 2 Live Crew, down at the Civic Center. We would play with Salt-N-Pepa. We were dynamic. We were great together. At the time, we were more like a bass group, similar to the sound popular in Miami. Our first single was called
"Do That Dance". They would play it on WBLX. We were also the first to have a song that said, "Whoop! There it Is", but ours didn't have a rap on it. It was just a mix.
Nobody really had any studios in Mobile, so, I guy named Diamond, who was out of Miami discovered me at a talent show. He saw me perform at the Solid Gold Club. He told me, "I would like to work with you," so, I told him about the whole group. I refused to leave my group behind. Next thing I knew, we were in Miami. He paid for the "Do Your Dance" video. We shot it in New York and Miami. We were out at the Apollo Theater and all up in Leevirt and B-Rock's old neighborhood. It never came out, but he paid $20,000 for that video. It came out really nice. He did everything he promised. He fed us. He took care of us for a long time. I mean, for years.
In 1996, Leevirt already had "My Baby Daddy" written. He and B-Rock lived in Atlanta, at the time. He called me, while I was in Mobile and told me that he had a song he wanted me to perform on. They wrote it with L.A. Sno, who is known for the song
"Daisy Dukes" with the group, Duice.
A lot of people think I wrote "Baby Daddy". I just performed it. They wanted me on the song because of my country voice. They wrote female parts for a girl named Kitty. I met her when I got to Atlanta.
We worked "That's My Baby Daddy" for the entire year of 1996. Eventually, Babyface and L.A. Reid's label LaFace Records heard it. They immediately liked it. In 1997, it formally came out.
We did that video in Atlanta. A lot of people were made we didn't do it in Mobile, but they don't understand, that was not our money. LaFace Records put the video out. It was their money. We did the video at Clark Atlanta University. The comedian Bruce Bruce is in the beginning and ending of the video. He was there, and there were just a few main people there. There wasn't hardly anyone outside. But, when we got to doing the video and people from the college started hearing the song, they all came out and said, "Ooh! That's jammin'!" I told them all, "Come on in the video. It don't matter!" All those people in that video, that was not planned. I'm thankful for stuff like that. I'm so very appreciative. That meant a lot to me. Look at how good it came out. That was just God!
There was an episode of "The Jamie Foxx Show" where they play the song. Whenever it comes on, people call my phone. A lot of them know that I had that song, but they don't realize how big it was until they see that. It came on just last week. People ask me when they see it, "Do you get royalties for that?" But, I'll be real. I don't get royalties, because I didn't write it. I got all my money performing it at shows. We do a lot of shows, though.
We've been all over the world. We got two gold records off the song. We go to Europe, and they know all the words to "My Baby Daddy", and I'm flattered. Wherever we go, I say I'm from Prichard, Alabama.
They can tear Bessemer Projects down all they want, but they are still in my heart. I tell people all the time, that if I could rebuild them, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
)
