DETROIT (WWJ) -- When it comes to Detroit artists who have made an impact on music and culture, there are truly too many to name.
But there’s one local rapper that Metro Detroiters quote regularly — especially during the winter months — who has never really gotten her due.
We’re talking about T-Baby, who had a massive viral hit 16 years ago this month with her now-iconic song, “It’s So Cold in the D.”
And if you tell us you didn’t just sing the hook as you read that — we don’t believe you.
The unbelievably catchy and quotable song was originally penned as a tribute to T-Baby’s late friend Mason Graham, who was fatally shot while trying to break up a fight at Universal Coney Island on Detroit’s east side in 2006.
The music video, was made with a shoe-string budget of just $300, hit YouTube in January of 2008, and went on to rack up an impressive 11 million views.
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In the years that followed, variations of the “It’s So Cold in the D” catchphrase have been included in tracks such as Eminem’s “Detroit vs. Everybody” and Big Sean’s “Story by Snoop Lion,” and the song has been performed in-concert by the likes of New Kids on the Block and Usher during tour stops in Detroit.
"It's So Cold in the D" received new life in 2011 when it was included in an episode of MTV’s “Beavis and Butthead” reboot, and the resurgence later resulted in a 2015 remix of the song (though nothing beats the original.)
But even with all of its popularity, T-Baby says she received so much online hate after releasing the tribute — which she intended to be a commentary on violence in the city — she took an extended hiatus from YouTube and music to avoid the negativity.
Additionally, the rapper and artist, who grew up Latonya Myles on Detroit’s east side, has never really been given much in the way of compensation or credit for her original song.
Most artists who perform or reference it do so without permission, and despite holding a copyright on the “It’s So Cold in the D” phrase, it often appears on t-shirts, mugs and even candles with little to no money going back to T-Baby.
Though she has continued to have a social media presence and create music through the years, T-Baby says she still keeps mainly to herself, and doesn’t put a lot of trust in others.
But regardless of how people feel about the song itself, T-Baby created something that most artists have a difficult time achieving: staying power.
The song is now used on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, meaning a whole new generation is discovering the viral hit.
In another 15 years, you can bet that on a freezing winter day, Detroiters will still be turning to one another and uttering the phrase, “It’s so cold in the D.”
But if we don't start to give T-Baby the credit she deserves right now...well, there's really nothing colder than that.