Interview: How Louisiana Rapper Baby Savage Became "God of Grind"

Your nickname says a lot about you. Louisiana rapper Baby Savage has two: the Orange and Green King and the God of Grind. The first name is self-bestowed: his daughter’s birthstone is orange and his son was born on St. Patricks Day. The second name has an external origin. Though he can’t remember exactly who gave him the title, Baby Savage lives up to it everyday. Performing hundreds of shows a year across 5 states – Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri – he grinds nonstop. Slowing down his grind for just a moment, he spoke with us about his journey and his plans for the future.

Baby Savage was born and raised near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but he’s currently working out of Shreveport. His explanation of the move is brief, but telling: “I was in trouble and I needed to leave.” He doesn’t reveal the details of this trouble, but it’s clear that his work ethic is partially an attempt to redeem himself, to assemble a future out of the fragments of his past.

The assemblage has a lot of parts. In addition to performing and recording his own music, Baby Savage does promotion, advertising, marketing and more for other independent artists. Likening independent artists to a union, he says “We have in strength in numbers.” Hence one of his claims-to-fame: kitschy ads featuring multiple artists. Rather than having artists individually pay for ad spaces, he rounds up artists and gets them to split the cost and the ad, saving money for everyone.

Musically, Baby Savage is all over the place, which is both a strength and a weakness. His sound is definitely Southern, but he’s all over the South. Every Southern epicenter – Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston – manifests in his music. That being said, he doesn’t rap over trap beats, which is refreshing. Nevertheless, there is potential for him to expand his sound beyond the South. Or at least dive deeper into the sounds he’s already curated.

Right now the rapper is trying to extend his buzz beyond the Ark-La-Tex area, but he’s not just starting off. Since 2010 and even before, he has produced DVDs, done numerous tours, released a flurry of mixtapes and even a self-titled album. 2012 was a particularly good year for him: he performed over 200 shows, saw his booking price increase and even purchased his own tour bus. These successes may seem banal, but for a self-funded independent artist working without management or a major label, they are huge triumphs. When you start from the actual bottom, there’s no such thing as baby steps.