Baby Tate is so animated that she could’ve easily voiced any of the Powerpuff Girls if she wanted to. Her music is just that bubbly and fun. Along her journey to self-discovery, the Atlanta-bred, Los Angeles-based rapper is keen on making music that gives listeners the same excitement it gave her while she created it.
“I’ve gotten to a place where I really like who I am. I’m comfortable expressing and showing all sides of who that person is,” the 27-year-old said. “Growing up, we’re all just trying to figure life out, and who we are and what place we hold in this life. But I think now I’m kind of finally getting to a place where I’m just getting a lot of understanding about where I stand, who I stand for, who I represent and feeling confident in that.”
Baby Tate’s exuberant confidence takes center stage on her latest EP “Baby Tate Presents-Sexploration: The Musical.” Released last fall, the five-track project weaves rap, Jersey club, pop and R&B. Baby Tate is currently touring the project, and she’ll stop at Vinyl on Friday on her first headlining tour.
Credit: Tyson Horne
Credit: Tyson Horne
“The main thing that defines a Baby Tate show is high energy,” she said. “I’m always giving the best energy. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be funny. It’s going to be freeing, liberating. I want people to really just enjoy themselves and that’s always what the crowd looks like when I look out.”
“Sexploration” features a lush visual companion that becomes Baby Tate’s cinematic universe for sex positivity for all genders and sexual orientations. “Baby Tate presents a lesbian love song,” she affirms at the beginning of the video for “Lollipop,” which features women playfully licking a lollipop.
In the video for “Wig,” Baby Tate transforms her world into an all-star drag competition for best hair. It features drag queens Joella Perry and Reina the Doll. Baby Tate’s affinity for theater was developed while attending DeKalb School of the Arts. She’d eventually like to pursue more acting opportunities, but for now she’s focused on her upcoming album. The music for “Sexploration” came as she started working on it.
“I just got to a point where I was like I want to put music out this year, but I know that my album is not done. And I’m somewhat of a perfectionist, so these five songs came from that journey of making my album. It’s really just like a snippet and a glimpse into what is to come,” she said.
Credit: Jonathan Weiner
Credit: Jonathan Weiner
She said the new album, which fans can expect later this year, is a more liberating version of “Sexploration,” urging listeners to be as free as they can in their own bodies.
“I think as a woman, especially as a Black woman, a Black queer femme, there are so many people in the world that don’t want women to have autonomy over our own bodies,” she said. “The energy that I want to put in my music is that power for women to take back and a lot of that power is within our sexuality and just owning it.”
For Baby Tate, realizing that power is an ever-evolving journey. Last year, she came out as pansexual, and she hopes her own sexual fluidity will inspire listeners to be unafraid to embrace their own. “Luv Everybody,” the project’s opening track, finds Baby Tate’s vocal prowess on full display as she expresses how her sexual desires have no limits: “I got Peter, Mary, Joseph, Paul/Oh my God, I want ‘em all.”
Baby Tate won’t be placed in anyone’s box.
“I think that representation is so important for young people, especially young Black people, to have because a lot of times we don’t see ourselves in the spaces that we wish that we could be in or that we aspire to be in, so I try to be as real as possible.”
Credit: Bonnie Nichoalds
Credit: Bonnie Nichoalds
The buoyancy of Baby Tate’s genre-hopping artistry has its finest moment on “Jersey,” the project’s lead single. For nearly three minutes, she takes listeners on a Jersey club-inspired ride to use the dancefloor as the medicine for a bad breakup.
“I wasn’t actually in the club crying in New Jersey,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually cried in a club. I don’t like to cry in public places. But everything else about the story is true. My family is from New Jersey. That’s why I kind of pay homage to my family and my cousins. Growing up, I would go to New Jersey every summer and learn all the New Jersey dances, so it’s really cool to see Jersey club music have ... a light shone on it in more of a global way.”
As for her upcoming show in her hometown, Baby Tate said Atlanta fans should come prepared to be blown away. Quite literally.
“They can expect to walk away bald-headed because I will snatch their wigs.”
IF YOU GO
Baby Tate Presents - Sexploration: the Tour
8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26. Advance tickets are sold out online but are $25 on the day of the show. Vinyl. 1374 W Peachtree St., Atlanta. 404-885-1365, centerstage-atlanta.com.
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