After a frenetic year, the Grammy-nominated star is the hottest rapper in the US. He talks about his quest to be the best – and the forces that could bring him down
![DaBaby boom: meet the controversial rapper taking over America](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ee58146f36cd3386b9f257102e5d5f192b5b96f0/0_88_1600_960/master/1600.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f2fffe323b8a81662aa635b6eff16e12)
It’s impossible to know where to focus your attention. On the six members of Jabbawockeez, the dance troupe wriggling on stage like breakdancing stormtroopers? The wobbling pair of blowup kewpie dolls? Or maybe the man with “DaBoy Baby” carved in Carolina blue script on his chest?
Then DaBaby’s track, Bop, explodes from the loudspeakers and a new sensory assault begins: backflipping dancers in black “Billion Dollar Baby” tracksuits; synchronised routines from people in Nasa flight outfits; a dancer with red booty shorts who bounces on her head, splits her legs akimbo and twerks.