DeeBaby

From the streets of Houston, DeeBaby channels his hardships and successes through direct rhymes and choruses that carry an undercurrent of longing even in their bravado. Emerging near the end of the 2010s, the Mexican rapper widened his reach in 2021 through the stark single “Marz,” which he soon followed with his debut album, The Black Sheep. Two years later he delivered Junkie Mode, whose title alluded to his relentless urge to create and record; the project appeared on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. He has sustained that pace with the 2024 LP Can You Hear Me Now, the Mg Lil Bubba collaboration Bert & Ernie, and more than a dozen singles, among them 2025’s “Half a Ticket.”

Born Jesus Martinez, he first tried freestyling at age five alongside his uncle. Three years afterward the pair tracked three songs at a neighborhood studio, an experience that sharpened his determination to cultivate a singular voice while absorbing hip-hop in depth. His earliest commercial releases surfaced in 2018 and 2019, the most prominent being the combative “2 AM.” Singles issued throughout 2020 built steady momentum, paving the way for the coolly menacing and sharply focused “Marz” in 2021. Within months he appeared on the Be Someone: HoUSton Population compilation and released The Black Sheep, which featured the harder-edged “ShootOut.”

“Hottest in the City” and “Top Down” preceded the track “Junkie Mode (Intro),” both signaling the more reflective and candid tone of Junkie Mode, issued in April 2023. After that album’s chart entry, DeeBaby continued with Can You Hear Me Now and Bert & Ernie in 2024, along with numerous additional singles, before opening 2025 with “Half a Ticket.”