In what can only be described as the most savage subliminal-turned-direct shot of 2025, Lil Baby has officially declared war on his former label-mate and one-time best friend Gunna – and he did it in the pettiest, most surgical way possible.

On the closing track of his surprise-dropped album WHAM (Who Hard As Me), released at midnight Thursday, the Atlanta megastar unleashed a blistering 16-bar verse that left absolutely no doubt: the YSL civil war is back on, and this time it’s personal.

The killer lines in question, from the song “Last Laugh”:

“Same old flows, thank God that was the last one Now you’ll never win again Paying those soldiers to be your friends Now tell me who’s trying to be the one again? You the b*tch-made prototype Who’s tryna clone you again?”

Social media detonated within minutes. The Shaderoom, Akademiks, and every rap blog on earth posted the lyrics with the same caption: “GUNNA WUNNA IS SO COOKED.”

And cooked he is.

Sources close to both camps tell Daily Mail exclusively that Lil Baby had been sitting on these bars for months, waiting for the perfect moment to drop the guillotine. “He recorded like four different versions,” one insider dished. “Some were way nastier, talking about the plea deal directly, calling him a ‘paperwork princess.’ He toned it down at the last minute because his lawyer told him it could open the door to a defamation case. But even toned down? It’s lethal.”

For the younger readers and anyone who’s been living under a rock: this beef stems from Gunna’s controversial 2022 Alford plea in the sprawling YSL RICO case. While Young Thug remains behind bars fighting for his freedom, Gunna took a plea that allowed him to walk free – insisting he was not snitching, just taking the smartest legal route. The streets, however, branded him a rat almost overnight. Lil Baby, who was once so close to Gunna that they practically finished each other’s sentences in interviews, distanced himself immediately and never looked back.

Fast forward three years and Gunna’s career has been… complicated. Yes, he still moves units – One Of Wun debuted top 10 – but the love is gone. Fans boo him at festivals. Rappers refuse to collab. Even his own former stylist leaked texts allegedly showing Gunna crying in the group chat when Baby unfollowed him on Instagram.

And now this.

Twitter (sorry, X) has been a bloodbath since the album dropped. Top trending topics worldwide:

#GunnaIsOverParty #LilBabyEndedHim “Same old flows” B*tch-made prototype

One viral tweet with 400k likes read: “Gunna spent three years tryna convince us he ain’t fold and Lil Baby ended the debate in six bars. It’s actually JOEVER.”

Another fan posted side-by-side clips: Gunna in 2020 saying “Me and Baby locked in for life, that’s my twin” next to Baby on his IG Story last night just posting a rat emoji and the shrugging emoji. Brutal.

Industry insiders say the “paying those soldiers to be your friends” line is particularly vicious because everyone knows Gunna has been paying massive features fees to stay relevant. Sources claim he dropped $350k on a Future verse that never materialised, $250k to Latto (who quietly sent the money back), and allegedly tried to pay Drake half a million just for an IG story repost – only for Drake to leave him on read.

Even worse? Multiple Atlanta “soldiers” have come forward in the last year claiming Gunna still sends them monthly “loyalty payments” to keep them from speaking out about what really happened in those interrogation rooms. One purported ex-associate posted alleged Venmo screenshots totalling $18k with the caption “Tell Baby I said thanks for the verse.”

Gunna has stayed eerily quiet so far – his Instagram story is just a black screen as of press time – but people close to him say he’s “absolutely devastated.” One friend told us: “He cried when he heard it. Like full-on tears. He thought time had healed it. He really believed Baby would never go there.”

Too late.

Lil Baby, meanwhile, is basking in the chaos. He was spotted leaving a Miami club at 4 a.m. with a bottle of Ace of Spades in one hand and his phone in the other, laughing as the notifications flooded in. When paparazzi shouted “Did you diss Gunna?!” he simply smirked, took a sip, and said: “Next question.”

The streets have already crowned this the knockout blow. As one viral tweet perfectly summed up: “Gunna spent three years doing yoga and meditation to clear his name. Lil Baby did it in 30 seconds with some light wordplay.”

Even neutral parties are picking sides. Metro Boomin (who has his own history with Baby) posted a single rat emoji then deleted it. 21 Savage liked the album on Apple Music within four minutes of release – a move that sent shockwaves because he’d stayed publicly Switzerland up until now.

And the memes? Oh, the memes are catastrophic.

• Gunna’s “One Of Wun” album cover photoshopped with a white flag
• The crying Michael Jordan face over Gunna’s mugshot
• Someone slowed down the “b*tch-made prototype” line and layered it over Curb Your Enthusiasm music

At this point it’s not even a beef anymore – it’s a public execution.

Gunna’s next move – if he even has one – will define the rest of his career. Some are predicting a desperate response track that will only make things worse. Others say he’ll go the J. Cole route and just apologise on wax, but at this point an apology would be career suicide too.

As one Atlanta OG told us anonymously: “Baby just put the nail in the coffin, poured concrete on it, and built a Chick-fil-A on top. Gunna Wunna is so cooked they’re serving him with a side of fries.”

Lil Baby’s WHAM is projected to do 350-400k first week – numbers Gunna hasn’t sniffed since 2020.

The king of Atlanta has spoken. And right now, there’s only one name ringing bells from Fulton County all the way to the charts.

Rest in peace to whatever was left of Gunna’s reputation.