If you wrote a song, and that song had the word “baby” in it, how would you pronounce it? Whether singers are conscious of it or not, they have considered this question pretty much since “baby” was first sung. Perhaps the most versatile two-syllable utterance in a popular singer’s repertoire, “baby” is used as a bridge to connect lyrics, and as the spotlight of an entire song. Singers mumble it, croon it, and screech it. And in the delivery of the word, we often hear the meaning of the entire tune; we understand what kind of happy-melancholy-abusive-adoring-torn-up-in-lust sentiments swirl in the singer’s heart. The Pronunciation of {Baby} in Popular Music is a project that celebrates exactly that: the myriad vocal deliveries in song of this common term of endearment, their meanings, and the singers who move us most when they start with the “b,” swerve, and reinvent the word.

Created & Written by Jamie Allen

Music Consultant: Stewart Haddock

Copy Editor: Sally Parham

Technician: Travis Jones