It’s been all celebration this past week for rising hip-hop artist Raq Baby. He turned 21 on June 8 ahead of his homecoming performance at the 2026 Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash on Sunday. But for the Englewood-bred rapper, he’s not just marking a milestone birthday; his debut at the music fest is a victory lap after enduring a serious car crash that threatened to cut his promising career short.
2026 is a big year for Raq, born Brian L. Bedford. He wrapped up his sold-out El Peligro vs. Robert Johnson North American tour in April and released the deluxe edition of his eighth album in three years, “I Never Gave AF,” in December. On Spotify, he’s garnered over 1 million streams, and his biggest song, “Belt Boys,” went viral, with 16 million views on YouTube.
But a serious car crash at the end of March nearly put an end to that momentum. The team was leaving Hartford, Connecticut, for Detroit. Having a few days off, Raq wanted to return home to Atlanta to see his baby son after being away from him for so long on tour, his mother and manager, Toyette Hall, recalls. She told him that she didn’t want him to leave, but he did anyway. After they talked, Hall felt uneasy to the point she had a panic attack.
Raq Baby and his mom, Toyette Hall, after the rapper’s show at Avondale Music Hall in April. “That experience was heartwrenching because I did not know what was going on. I was crying, I was a mess, but I was able to focus so I can get to my son. When he called and said that he was OK, I was OK,” she said of the car crash that injured her son at the end of March.
Mark Braboy
Then, she received a phone call every mother fears. Raq had been in a car wreck.
He says he doesn’t remember the traumatic incident as he blacked out.
“I don’t even remember how that day started or ended. That crash was just too crazy. I wish they had camera footage of that s— though,” he said.
In his first interview post-accident, Raq recalls he, the driver and another passenger were on the road when the driver fell asleep at the wheel in Georgia, causing the car to crash and flip over multiple times. Raq wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was nearly ejected from the car.
That was one of the scariest nights of Hall’s life. “That experience was heart-wrenching because I did not know what was going on. I was crying, I was a mess, but I was able to focus so I can get to my son. When he called and said that he was OK, I was OK,” she said.
Raq was hospitalized and examined to ensure no major surgeries were needed. He suffered a slight spinal injury and a broken wrist. Doctors prescribed him painkillers and was left in a neck brace and a cast around his wrist.
“He couldn’t walk [at first]. We had to lift him and everything. We had to hold him up. He couldn’t bend. His spine was not up all the way. That’s why he had to wear a neck brace,” Hall said.
Pausing the tour was not an option for Raq Baby, let alone miss Chicago. On April 4, he delivered an energetic performance despite recovering and performing with a neck brace.
“I was on stage the next day, I didn’t give a damn. I had a show literally the next day after that. But I canceled on [the Toronto show on April 1],” said Raq Baby.
When he was asked what made him continue, he knew that if he didn’t work, he couldn’t eat. “I couldn’t be broke. You gotta get your ass up and work or be broke. Rap don’t pay like a 9-to-5 pay.”
That work ethic is how he recorded the visuals for “Homicide” while still bound to the neck brace. It used footage from his Chicago show.
Many thoughts ran through his mind before he got on stage. His Chicago family and friends were all backstage with him in support.
“I’m thinking about surgery, I’m thinking about how the hell I’m going to perform, I can’t move the way I want, it’s just all type of s— because I know how energetic I am and my movement. So when I wasn’t moving right, I was like, my fans ain’t gonna be used to this type of s—,” he said.
“I cried. They believe in me with a broken neck? That s— made me cry,” he said.
And Raq Baby’s not letting up. He’s dropping a new EP in June, “Still Spillin,” on Alamo Records, and will tour again this fall. For now, Hall says Raq is looking to deliver a grand performance at Summer Smash before a hometown crowd. The two lived in Englewood until he was 9 before they finally settled in Atlanta, where he’s based now.
“This is another notch under the belt. I’m just happy about it. What we’re really looking forward to is the experience. This is where it all started for him. This is an amazing opportunity for him,” said Hall.