California native, Baby Keem is an artist that is constantly pushing the boundaries in what it means to be a rapper. Keem’s ideas are vividly present on each song he’s released over these last couple of years. Throughout 2021, Keem has released many singles which hinted at the possibility of an album, but he has delivered!
Following the success of his 2019 EP, Keem has released his debut album ‘The Melodic Blue’. Keem has had many listeners on edge to see what he has
to bring to the table. With producing credits from Kanye, Kendrick Lamar being his older cousin, and a hit single featuring Travis Scott; Keem had huge shoes to fill. This album was released within a month’s and it’s possibly a top ten release of the year so far. ‘The Melodic Blue’ is a great introduction into Keem’s psyche. From his raspy lines on ‘cocoa’ soulful singing on ‘lost souls’, Keem shows his fans he’s not a one trick pony that people may have labeled his as.
Keem has a vast amount high paced energy that keeps listeners tuned in. Songs like ‘trademark usa’, ‘range brothers’, ‘family ties’, and ‘vent’ bring nothing but great production and lyrics that are hard to resist listening to again and again.
While listening, one can tell Baby Keem is trying to make a name for himself instead of being seen as “That’s Kendrick’s cousin right?!”. In interviews, Keem stated that he failed to mention Kendrick being his cousin due to the fear of riding the coattails of Lamar’s success. He puts great effort in finding his sound which had some consequences.
Despite ‘The Melodic Blue’ being a overall decent album, one can argue that Baby Keem struggled in terms of finding a consistent sound in his voice throughout the project. Keem is trying to find his perfect stride and choosing what works best for him which is good for a debut album but it was difficult listening to some songs that sounded like a mix of Playboi Carti and Vince Staples then revert back to Baby Keem’s normal voice. All in all, he has the potential to take the torch from current stars and run with it but he’s still getting his footing.
Favorite Songs:
‘Scars’ is at the top of the list since the production best fits Baby Keem’s style of rapping. Keem is able to convey some of his life experiences over the course of the song which is phenomenal.
‘family ties’; need we say more? The cousin duo tag teams on the song similar to watching Jeff and Matt Hardy in a tag team match. The memes that arose from Kendrick’s verse? “TOP OF THE MORNIN!”. The Quentin Tarantino-esque music video that presented great visuals that follow the separate parts of the song made ‘family ties’ another contender for best songs.
‘durag activity’ was released long before the album but it still holds so much weight. Production from another Cali native, BRICK!, allowed both Baby Keem and Travis Scott to have one of the best songs on the album. Granted Travis Scott’s verse was somewhat underwhelming, he still delivered something worthwhile.
Although this is his debut album, he still has a lot of room to grow and discover his true sound. We look forward to hearing more from Baby Keem’s library. Did you guys enjoy listening to ‘The Melodic Blue’ as much as we did? Think he’s up next? Let us down in the comments!
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