“I'M GOING TO DO WHAT I WANT TO DO BECAUSE SOMEBODY'S GOING TO BE MAD ANYWAY AND SOMEBODY'S GOING TO LOVE IT.”
- BABY TATE
Baby Tate isn’t just a Tik-Tok baddie and musical sensation —
She’s a beam of light, empowerment, and relatability. At 28, this singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer from Decatur, Georgia, has crafted a career that feels like an anthem for self-expression and joy. As the daughter of Grammy-nominated singer and former Arrested Development member Dionne Farris, Tate’s story is rich with authenticity, resilience, and determination. From singing Stevie Wonder at four years old on stacked toddler chairs forming a makeshift stage to attending performing arts schools through the twelfth grade, she’s always known the spotlight was hers for the taking. Now based in Los Angeles, California, Tate embodies the essence of growing boldly, taking your roots, watering them, and blossoming into something entirely her own.
Her sound? Vibrant, boundary-pushing, and impossible to box in. Viral hits like “I Am” featuring Flo Milli and “Hey, Mickey!” didn’t just top charts; they became cultural anthems on social media, showcasing Tate’s sharp-witted lyricism and fearless self-expression well before the release of Tate Tuesday Volume 1. Whether she’s writing new music, sharing GRWM videos on social media, or showing off her latest set of funky fresh new duck nails in her Instagram stories, Tate brings her full self to the table, unapologetically. Tracks like “I Am” set the bar high, but Tate more than delivers on her latest mixtape, continuing her legacy with a new, unapologetic energy. Tate Tuesday Volume 1 is a masterclass in doing things her way. Built entirely from YouTube-type beats—with a little help from her loyal fanbase, the “Tots,” during TikTok Lives—and recorded in her home studio, the mixtape is raw, experimental, and full of surprises. Tracks like Face The World exude confidence, opening with the bold declaration: “Body like my first initial, Yes, it’s T,” while Straight delivers a cheeky yet pointed jab at societal norms with lines like, “This ain’t no conversion camp.” and “You mean to tell me you ain’t a little queer?” The mixtape is loud and unapologetic, exploding with confidence as the tracks carry on, perfectly capturing Tate’s dynamic artistry and infectious energy.
Baby Tate isn’t just here to make hits; she’s here to start conversations and to leave nothing left unsaid. For her, music is a megaphone for the silenced, using her platform to amplify Black, Queer, and Femme voices. Her lyrics challenge stereotypes, particularly around hypersexuality, reclaiming them as sources of strength and inspiration. As she boldly states when speaking with myself, “Fuck it, y’all. I’m going to do what I want to do because somebody’s going to be mad anyway, and somebody’s going to love it.” That energy radiates through her music, infusing every beat with unapologetic self-assurance. It’s an energy that invites listeners to join in and feel like they, too, can Face The World!
And if you think she’s stopping with Volume 1, think again. Baby Tate is already gearing up for Tate Tuesday Volume 2, a project she promises will crank up the fun with club beats and dance-floor-ready tracks. She’s collaborating with producer Zach Witness, sharpening her innovative process, and diving headfirst into a new era of creative exploration. Beyond that, there’s her upcoming album, C U Next Tuesday (yes, that spells exactly what you think it does). We don’t know much yet, but we’re already on the edge of our seats to see what Tate has in store for us next.
Baby Tate’s life philosophy is just as captivating. “You don’t just stay [a] Squirtle forever; you grow into your Blastoise era!” she says with a laugh, comparing her own evolution to that of our favorite Pokémon starter. Therapy, emotional growth, and her mother’s hard-earned wisdom—“The game hasn’t changed, the players are just new”—have all shaped the artist Tate is today.
What’s most exciting is that Tate’s music isn’t just about her; it’s about us. It’s about growth, self-expression, and turning struggle into something beautiful. Tate doesn’t just make music; she makes movement. And we at Worldwide Magazine are beyond excited to see where this journey takes her next.
AndyOmo: Hi there! I’m Andy, nice to meet you. How are you?
Baby Tate: Hi, Andy. Nice to meet you too. I'm good, how are you?
I cannot complain. It's a beautiful day. I love the pink [you're wearing] today.
I love your pink!
I gotta rock it, you know. Well, we are, excited to have you! Are you in California right now, or where are you based currently?
Yeah, I'm in LA. I'm excited to be here, thank you.
Amazing! Let's start by telling us a little bit about yourself: your name, where you're from, how old you are, and how long you've been in your industry.
Okay. My name is Tate. I'm professionally known as Baby Tate. And I am from Decatur, Georgia. I currently live in Los Angeles. I am a singer, a rapper, producer a lover of music. And, um, you're never supposed to ask a lady her age, but I'm 28. [Laughs].
[Laughs] Period. Noted.
I'm 28. Which is actually weird to remember sometimes. Yeah, you know, as I get older, I'm like, "Oh my God, I was just 15 yesterday, this is weird!"
I feel that for real.
Yeah, I got my start by being introduced to music very early on by my mom. My mom makes music, her name is Dionne Ferris. And, in my household, we were very much so a "Music is life type-a household." So I was introduced to it very early on, with no expectation. I feel like my mom just wanted me to be exposed to music, but not really like, "Oh, I want you to do music just like me." She actually really wanted me to go to school and not pursue this, but this life chose me, so here I am.
You know, it's cool that she didn't put that pressure on you at a young age. You talked a little bit about growing up under your mom's influence, but, what are some of your own personal experiences from early on that made you aware that music was a passion of your own?
I think I've always really loved to sing and to entertain. There's this story my mom tells way better than me, but I was like four years old and it was her and my uncle at our house. And I think there was a Stevie Wonder song playing and I was performing it for them. Then I walked away and they were like, "Where are you going?" And I go and get these two little chairs, from my little toddler chair set. I put them together and I stood on them and I was like, "I gotta get higher," you know, like I have to be on stage. And so from a very early age, I loved to entertain and I love to perform. That's one of the places, on stage, where I feel the most comfortable in life, honestly. So,, I knew really, early on and I think because of the fact that I did have the talent and I could sing, my mom was like, you were either gonna be able to sing really well or you weren't going to at all. My dad also sings, so with both of those genetics, it's either going to be, wow, [ what a] beautiful singer, or, babe, go get yourself a day job. [Laughs]
Totally [Laughs]
Yeah, for me, I got, that natural inheritance. My mom put me into performing arts schools very early, from the third grade to my senior year, I was in performing arts school.
Amazing. I love that you were able to get in touch with your passion at such a young age. I know that that's definitely not super common. We don't always find our passions till later on in life when we can give those passions that kind of attention in a way that maybe we weren't always able to when we're younger. So it's super cool that you had a supportive community and family that saw those passions when you were quite young.Growing up for you, with both your parents as musicians and then living under your mother, Dionne Farris', spotlight, what did success look like to you? Was the idea of their success carried onto you? Is this something that you've allowed yourself to explore? And how has your vision of success from growing up changed to what it is now?
I grew up with a single mother, my mom raised me alone. There were a lot of times when my mom had a lot of success in her career, but she chose to leave it to raise me. There were a lot of times when we were struggling. I would go to school, not having money for lunch very often until I finally told my mom, " You know, I can get free lunch, right? Just sign me up, please."
Right, literally. [Laughs]
"Like please mama, I'm hungry!" [Laughs]
“SHE OFTEN SAYS THE GAME HASN'T CHANGED, THE PLAYERS ARE JUST NEW.”
- BABY TATE IN REFERENCE TO HER MOM
So, I think my vision of success was kind of skewed because I don't think I really was very aware of my life at the times when my mom still was experiencing her success. I was really young and by the time I started to actually gain some type of sentience for real, it was more so of the struggle that I was seeing. I don't like to accept struggle in my life. That's not really a word that I like to use often, but I have to be real about it, at the time, that's just what it was.
One thing that I did really feel proud to see though, is how my mom was doing it independently. She was her own manager. She [would] literally email people [using] a different name, but it was her. So I was just watching those things and, seeing that it was possible for me, no matter on what level that was. I think success comes at different levels for different people. Someone can reach the highest pinnacle of success for them, and that might just be performing for a hundred people and they might feel like the most successful [person] in the world. Whereas there might be someone who has one hundred people pull up to the show and they feel like they have not done a damn thing.
So yeah, for me, because I was able to see a scale, of what success can be, I'm still defining what success looks like for me. I think I'm successful now, but, I think I would like to be more successful.
Of course. Bouncing off that would you define the success that you have found within your career and within your passions for music, as any different from your own personal successes. Any personal goals in your life that would define your success outside of your career?
I think my career is so intertwined with my real life that sometimes it just takes over. You know, when people say, "Ball is life"? Music is life for me. My personal success is my musical success. I also am very grateful that I was able through LVRN, who I'm managed by, to go to therapy and really talk through some of my childhood trauma. I think that's a part of my personal success. The way that I communicate with people and just being able to express myself. That is a lot of my personal success. That spiritual and emotional self-growth.
Right. That's a lot of the topics you talk about in your music. The self-growth, empowerment, and self-love, especially within this mixtape, that's like a big tone that I get. Diving into that a little bit more. There are so many young readers and people across the world, that struggle with embracing who they are, especially in a time like right now. Were there specific moments or experiences that made you feel empowered to be unapologetically yourself throughout this journey of being under a spotlight and maybe even under the highlight of your mom too?
Yeah. There is a line by Rihanna, one of my favorite artists, where she says, "People gon' talk whether you're doing bad or good." / continues singing Cheers Drink to That) by Rihanna/ " Yeah, I'm getting coyote ugly up in here...." Anyways, [Laughs]. I just kind of got to a point where I realized that people will love you or hate you regardless of what you do, regardless of who you are. There are just some people that are just not going to like you and they will never like you, regardless of if you show 100 % of your personality, or if you show 5 % of it, and there are also people who are going to absolutely adore you.
For me, when that really clicked in my head, that's when I was able to be my most authentic and confident self. Fuck it, you know, and, fuck y'all. I'm going to do what I want to do because somebody's going to be mad anyway and somebody's going to love it.
At the end of the day, I can't make myself any smaller or, make myself sad so that I can make somebody else happy. That just doesn't add up, it doesn't make any sense.
Totally!
Thankfully I also have a very supportive family. But if I didn't, I think I would be like, "Sorry, girly. I'm sorry, auntie. I'm sorry, grandma. I'm going to be my happiest self even if that makes you sad because I'm the only person that's living my life. You are living your life. You've done the things that you wanted to do. And if you didn't, you still have time to do them. But your opinion about the world should not and will not frame the way that I see myself."
That's something that I'm constantly reminding myself that people's perspectives of us are theirs, not ours.
Yeah, exactly!.
Especially with the fact that you do have the privilege of having a supportive family and that they do back you, that's an amazing thing. A lot of people don't necessarily have that, and so in that feeling of whether or not the people around us are giving us our flowers, it's [about] shaking off all opinions and then letting in the ones that come from a place of real love. Whether that be family or that be supporters, perspectives will always be there. We can't change that, we will always be perceived. So fuck it, do you, and that's a great message to always carry with you, even aside from your music, even just personally.
In a time where marginalized voices are very important, how do you hope your music empowers those who may feel unheard or overlooked right now in society?
Right now is such a unique time because we're in so much turmoil and fear, due to [the 2024 election]. I think that right now it's really important for anyone to use their voice. We oftentimes doubt ourselves or minimize ourselves and our platforms and our voices, but you really never know just how loud you are to someone or just how loud you can be. I've always spoken up for women black women, queer people, trans people, and you know, just real people. The people who are in touch with themselves, and I'm not going to ever stop doing that because why would I? Why would I stop speaking up for myself, if I'm going to speak up for myself, my mouth is loud enough to speak up for someone else too.
I continue to do that in my music because I feel like music is such a strong way to transfer energy and to transfer messages. I definitely see being a musician as a huge responsibility, especially in this day and age. I try to be very intentional with the words that I say and the power that I put into my music. Of course, before I dropped this mixtape, I really wasn't purposely thinking like, "Oh, let's do this because the elections coming up, wooh wooh, let's empower the girls!" That's just what I do anyway, but I do think that a lot of these songs definitely have been helping me to get through this hard time in history.
I think that's really important too, because one thing I learned from Mutha RiRi is that music is all about timing in our lives. And sometimes when we're making music, or we're listening to music, it's not necessarily for this time right in this second. Yeah, and that's what I love about Rihanna - as an artist, she's constantly making music for the future in a way, and then we catch up to her, and it just makes sense, everything just makes sense.
And so when you're talking about this, in a way, you've created music for you to be able to help get through this time or any time that is going to relate to one like we're in now. My keyword there is relatability, which is just constantly finding a time and place for music and using it as a healing tool and as a resource to be able to express yourself and maybe let out those feelings of aggression or confusion.
