4Batz thinks the rumors that he’s an industry plant are kind of cool.

4Batz Responds to Industry Plant Rumors

On Monday (April 29), GQ magazine shared a new interview with rap’s latest enigmatic up-and-comer, 4Batz. The Dallas, Texas native has had a meteoric rise to fame, which has allowed him to gain over 13 million Spotify listeners, even though he has only released five official songs in his short career.

The quick ascension has led some people to label 4Batz an industry plant, an artist strategically put into position due to nepotism or by certain people in the music industry rather than entering the game on their own merit. Others have presumed his music might be A.I.-generated. Batz talked about the recurring speculation in the new interview.

“I think it’s kind of cool,” 4Batz shares. “It’s like I’m the boogeyman. [Then] people are going to meet me and be like, ‘Oh, this is a regular hood n***a.'”

Milano, 4Batz’s manager, sees the rumor as a compliment.

“Listen, if you look at everyone who’s had success at a very accelerated rate, whether it’s Ice Spice or Travis Scott, fans are going to call everybody like that an industry plant at some point, until they don’t anymore,” Milano said. “I look at it as a compliment. It just lets me know that he’s so talented. For people to think at some point that he was A.I.—it’s crazy, but it also speaks to how they can’t even imagine that someone could really be that talented.”

Industry plants have been a topic of conversation for decades. The Sugarhill Gang is one of the earliest rap groups to have that label thrown at them during their entry in the game. During the 1970s, the founders of Sugar Hill Records put the three members together and had them recite what would later be their hit record “Rapper’s Delight.” Since then, rappers like Chance The Rapper, Travis Scott, Cardi B, CJ, Baby Keem and Ice Spice have all been accused of being industry plants.

Read More: Industry Plants Are Consuming the Conversation, But Are They Real?

4Batz Preps Debut EP

4Batz first burst onto the music scene in 2023, with a trio of song releases, including the viral single “Act II: Date @ 8.” The song quickly blew up on social media and streaming. Following cosigns from Drake and Ye, 4Batz reportedly inked a deal with Drake’s OVO Sound label to release his debut EP under Drizzy’s imprint and collabed with The Boy on the “Act II: Date @ 8 (Remix)” last month. Batz’s upcoming project, U Made Me a St4r, is slated to drop on Friday (May 3).

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