Lil Baby was honored with the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at Black Music Action Coalition’s second annual Music in Action Awards Gala, which took place Thursday night at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.
The Atlanta rapper was celebrated for his contributions to racial and social justice. Earlier this year, Lil Baby hosted his third annual Back to School Fest in Atlanta, which provided over 3,000 local children with backpacks, school supplies, haircuts, and other essentials. In addition, Baby joined forces with Atlanta restaurateur Lemont Bradley to offer 100 jobs, while also establishing a $150,000 “My Turn” scholarship program at his former high school.
“I honestly didn’t know what a humanitarian was, but as I looked into it and started reading, I understand that I’m actually humanitarian,” Lil Baby said during his acceptance speech. “I just want to say that I appreciate everybody in here because nothing that we doing or trying to do can be done by one person. It’s gonna take all of us to stick together and stay together.”
On the music side of things, Lil Baby returned on Friday with his latest single “The World Is Yours to Take.” The song arrives ahead of the release of Baby’s third studio album It’s Only Me. The official follow-up to his 2020 sophomore effort My Turn is set to drop Oct. 14.
“The World Is Yours to Take” is the latest in a string of one-off singles Baby has dropped this year, following “Right On,” “In a Minute,” “Frozen,” and “Detox.” The Quality Control rapper has also delivered scene-stealing guest features for several A-list artists, including Future (“Like Me”), Vince Staples (“East Point Prayer”), NAV (“No Sleep”), and DJ Khaled (“Staying Alive,” “Big Time”).