“I’m tryna figure out where I’m at,” opens the artist formerly known as PoppyH on his 2020 EP Taxin’. Late last month, Nathaniel “Poppy” Holden Jr.—recently rechristened as VuduBaby—gave the EP a visual facelift in the form of a fresh music video. With a little help from some friends in the city — namely fellow artists 504icygrl and Lil Iceberg — Holden brought the project’s penultimate track, “Uppity,” to life on the streets of New Orleans and set the tone for the artist’s forthcoming work.
“More than a bar, the opening line of “Max Payne,” the EP’s very first track, reflects Holden’s musical ethos over the last few years since his 2019 album Voodoo Baby and 2020’s Taxin’ — one of pain, perseverance, and ultimately personal transformation.
“I was in a different world. It [Voodoo Baby] was a different hunger…super raw. Now, I feel like my music is more refined. I know Voodoo Baby is some of my best work, but it was like ‘Hurt Poppy.’ Now, it’s me enjoying life, and you can hear it,” he explains.
While he’s concocted a new name, new video, and (relatively) new EP complete with a surprise Trippie Redd feature (see: “Séance”), Holden is hardly a new face in the city’s music scene. His is a heritage that includes NOLA hip hop nobility in more ways than one as a former affiliate of the Cash Money and Lil Wayne himself.
“Me and his [Lil Wayne] daughter are first cousins. Seeing that lifestyle at a young age since they’re from New Orleans…[him] pulling up in a Mercedes-Benz…the rims and Rolexes,” the 24-year-old hip-hop artist reminisces. “So, I was like ‘Man, I could do that!’ I started making music at like 12 or 13…rapping on New Orleans drill music.” Though he confesses that at first it “wasn’t good,” at least not until a fateful WeezyAna Fest when he was 16 years old.
“I go to the show and am with him the whole night…telling him I had actually been rapping [and] perfecting my craft. I was trying to show him, and that shit was still trash,” he laughs, recalling. “[Wayne] instantly took me in to boost my confidence and just flew me out. He was teaching me how to count bars from day one…how to do math with my music…Everybody around him wanted to like party a lot — me included — but [Wayne] never wanted the party, so he used to teach me a work ethic, too.”
Beyond the musical education that he received under the tutelage of Wayne and the rest of Young Money, Holden says that the crew taught him that he has to “stand on [his] own.” Since parting ways with Cash Money, he’s done just that, cofounding the 504 Exotics label with his partner — the indomitable 504icygrl — finding footing as an artist bicoastal artist (he’s also a resident of the other LA), and putting out project after project.
With the release date for his upcoming EP, Live 4 the Night, from which a single of the same name has already dropped and with multiple concerts planned, Holden definitely has a lot on his plate, but he’s willing to share. He’s well aware that the fans are “hungry” after a year of fewer releases.
“[Last year] I took a little break from the music. Now, we have real goals. So, I’m about to start dropping a lot.”
To keep up with VuduBaby’s drops and tune into Taxin’, check out his Spotify.
