Baby Bash

Smooth rapper Baby Bash can’t recall where he got the “Bash” moniker but his alternate name, Baby Beesh, comes from the fact he used to drive around in a Mitsubishi. Born in the Vallejo, California area in 1975 to a Latin mother and an Anglo father who both eventually became addicted to heroin, Baby Bash had some uncles who exposed him to various genres of music and a grandmother who raised him. Part of the area’s underground Latin rap scene, Baby Bash joined groups like Potna Deuce and Latino Velvet with fellow Latino rappers Kid Frost and Jay Tee. A trip to Houston, Texas, to do a guest spot with the South Park Mexican crew, was an eye-opener. Bash was impressed with Texas’ support of local artists and even more impressed that he could sell his house in California and buy two in Texas. Meeting and eventually working with Frankie J. and the Kumbia Kings was a big moment for the rapper, but he was still eyeing basketball as a possible career and selling speed. He was too short for basketball, but things started to blow up on the music side when he hooked up with producer Happy Perez. He dropped his hopes of shooting hoops, quit dealing with drugs (minus his beloved weed), and released Savage Dreams under the Baby Beesh name on the Dope House label in 2001. On Tha Cool followed the next year. Listening to everything from E-40 to Tom Petty to Steel Pulse, Baby Bash expanded his sound and released the funky smooth single “Suga Suga.” It was huge in Texas, and Universal rushed to sign the artist. The hard work and diverse influences all came together on his major-label debut, Tha Smokin' Nephew, released in 2003. Two years later he returned with Super Saucy. In 2007 his polished album Cyclone, featuring the T-Pain-assisted title track, hit the shelves. In between albums, Bash expanded to acting and charity work. He was also featured on Santana’s 2008 single with Jennifer Lopez, “This Boy’s Fire.” Bashtown, his fourth major-label release, was issued in 2011 on Upstairs Records. The effort featured appearances by E-40, Paul Wall, and Slim Thug, among others. Unsung: The Album was released in 2013 and included “Break It Down” with Too $hort, and “Slide” with Miguel. Bash recruited frequent cohorts Paul Wall and Frankie J for 2014′s Ronnie Rey All Day. Don't Panic, It's Organic arrived in 2016. A year later, Bash reunited with Frankie J for another collaboration, Sangria: The Album. ~ David Jeffries