A recent Spelman College graduate is gaining attention online after claiming that rapper Lil Baby paid off more than $24,000 in her student loan debt years after she first reached out to him for financial assistance.
Who Paid?
Janay Lesley, a first-generation college graduate, aspiring rapper, and sickle cell disease advocate, shared on social media that Lil Baby paid off her remaining student loan balance of $24,074.97. According to Lesley, she initially contacted the Atlanta rapper in 2022 during her freshman year at Spelman College and asked if he could help cover her tuition costs, HBCU Game Day reported.
The story began on April 8, 2022, shortly after Lesley enrolled at Spelman College in Atlanta. Facing the financial realities of higher education, she decided to take a chance and reach out directly to the chart-topping rapper.
“I was a freshman, barely,” Lesley recalled in a social media video. “And I said, ‘Hey Lil Baby, can you pay my tuition?’”
Fast forward to 2026. Lesley had successfully completed her studies and earned her degree when she received an unexpected phone call from her mother.
“My mom calls me today and says, ‘Nay, I got an email about your loans,’” Lesley explained in the now-viral clip. “‘It says that they were paid off in full.’”
The amount was substantial. According to Lesley, her remaining student loan balance totaled exactly $24,074.97. The debt had been completely wiped out.
“The loans are paid,” she said while celebrating the news with followers online.
Lil Baby, who has an estimated net worth of an estimated $25 million, has not spoken publicly about paying off Lesley’s loans.
“I just want to emphasize that prayer, manifestation, delusion, all of these things hold power,” she said. “It is 2026. I have got my degree. And here comes Lil Baby to pay off my loans.”