Music

MR COOP HELPED BUILD LUBBOCK HIP HOP IN THE 1990S. NOW HE IS LOOKING FOR CAFE BABY

Filed September 4, 2026

A Facebook post from the son of longtime Lubbock rapper Mr Coop is turning into something much bigger than a simple social media shoutout.

Lajuane Cooper posted that his father was looking for MTM Rara, better known to many listeners as Cafe Baby, and later followed up in the comments with, “It’s a go let’s do it.”

What exactly the two artists may be planning has not been announced, but the possible connection carries some real history for Lubbock music.

Mr Coop comes from one of the earliest generations of artists who helped establish hip hop in East Lubbock. His career stretches back to the 1990s, including the 1997 album Poisonous Game. At a time when locally made rap had very little access to traditional radio or major promotion in West Texas, Mr Coop was among the artists trying to build a scene from the ground up.

His catalog later included work connected to names from the larger Southern rap world, including Houston rapper Lil Keke, giving Lubbock hip hop an early connection to a Texas movement that was becoming nationally influential.

Cafe Baby represents a different generation and a different sound. MTN Rara has been building his name through a mixture of Southern soul, R&B and rap, releasing projects including The Cafe Baby Vol. 1 and continuing to put out music while performing around Lubbock and West Texas.

That is what makes the public search interesting.

If Mr Coop and Cafe Baby are preparing to work together, it would connect an artist from the generation that helped establish Lubbock rap with one of the local artists currently carrying West Texas music into the streaming era.

Nothing official has been announced about a song, performance or collaboration, but Cooper’s response suggests a conversation is moving forward.

For a Lubbock music scene that rarely gets its history documented while it is happening, this is one worth watching.