ATLANTA — Between the summer of 2016, when the Atlanta rapper Lil Baby got out of prison on drug and gun charges, and the end of 2018, when he solidified himself as a formidable presence in hip-hop, he released seven full-length bodies of music, resulting in a pile of smash singles that have gone platinum a combined 12 times over.

An inescapable presence on rap radio who’s racked up even more street-level hits, Lil Baby, 25, has since been nominated for a Grammy, banked corporate sponsorships and performed alongside international stars like Drake, DaBaby and Travis Scott, in addition to his ubiquitous local cohort of Gunna, Future, Migos and Young Thug.

All told, songs by Lil Baby, who had never rapped before his two-year incarceration, have been streamed more than 11 billion times around the world. Yet, as he’ll proudly insist — and his barber will attest — the reserved rapper is known even now to jump in an Uber or pull up to Chick-fil-A all alone, loud jewelry gleaming. The concept of celebrity still makes him bristle, and his public appearances remain limited to the ones that pay handsomely.

“People don’t think I’m as big as I am because I don’t really talk about it,” he said recently. “Most people are acting like more than what they are, I’m acting like less than what I am.”