Baby Keem's The Melodic Blue

                 What’s up guys hope you are all doing well. Today I’m going to go over the debut studio album by someone who’s been on my daily rotation for a couple of days now, Baby Keem. I’m sure you guys  know this, but for those who don’t, Baby Keem is Kendrick Lamar’s younger cousin. The only reason I know this is because of the cover art for the amazing single that came out these past couple days, “family ties”. When it came to Baby Keem before, I won’t lie, I was not the biggest fan. His flow was different, and his version of the modern ‘baby voice’ sound in hip hop just didn’t reach me. The only song that I listened to from him was “Orange Soda”, which I think was the most popular song he had out at the time. However, after listening to “family ties”, things changed. I heard a more versatile and energetic Keem paired with a different yet aggressive flow from Kendrick. The song to me was one of those tracks that just kept getting better the more you listened to it. After loving the song following 3-4 listens, I knew I had to give this project a chance.

                The intro track, “trademark usa” was a great start to this project. The song starts off with a spaced out beat with some lines and soon we get right into the pudding with some bars from Baby Keem following a nasty trap beat switch up. I was already into this song, but then comes the interlude.. and another beat switch up. This time it’s a beat that seems to remind me of an anthem, a way of Baby Keem saying that he’s finally here. I loved this track because out of all the sounds I heard, it seemed to have an order to it. It kept intensifying, and I liked how Keem seemed to always be on his toes as he just kept rapping and rapping. After this we move on to the second track, “pink panties” which features a much more chill and fun Keem as he seems to sway to the music as he delivers his verses. After a small interlude with “scapegoats”, we get to “range brothers”. This song features again both Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar, and I’m kind of mixed on this. The production on this song is great and I personally think Keem delivered his part really well. I also think Kendrick gave a good verse, but it’s unfortunately overlooked because of where he emphasizes his lines. It’s hard to give this verse a fair listen when you’re randomly swarmed with TOP OF DA MORNING. Like… dude, if there’s any line to repeat for emphasis, why the hell would it be that? Maybe it’s just me nitpicking, but it just didn’t carry the flair that “family ties” had.

Next, we have “issues”, a much more solemn song where Keem reflects on the problems he’s faced in his life thus far. This can be paired with “scars” as I think the theme and tones match very well. “gorgeous” is the next song and it’s personally a favorite of mine. I love how Keem uses his autotune in this song, having it cater to his singing style instead of it replacing it. This is something that’s been a bit rare for me as I listen to newer music where autotune comes into play when it’s honestly unnecessary. An example I could remember at the top of my head would be certain songs in Lil Durk’s recent projects where it sound gritty and violent but randomly switches to autotune and takes away that previous tone. “south Africa”, “booman”, and “vent” are upcoming songs that show off more of Keem’s assertive rapping and I think each song has a unique flavor that again keeps the project fresh and easy to listen to. This could be contrasted to the other songs like “lost souls”, “durag activity”, and “first order of business” where you can see the familiar chill flowing Baby Keem that were in his older popular songs like “Orange Soda”. I left out “cocoa” because I really didn’t know where to fit this song. I really like this song and it shows off the diversity in Baby Keem’s style of making music. The feature from Don Toliver was a great addition as it matched the vibe of the song. Finally, we’re given a great outro with “16”, a song that seems to take inspiration from 80s pop and carries I think the perfect energy to close out a project as good as this one.  

Overall, I think this was a really good album from Baby Keem. After listening to this, I definitely will say I’m a fan of his, and I think if you give this album a chance, you’ll see where I’m coming from. I’m going to give this album a 9/10. It has a great showcase of how diverse Baby Keem can be with his music, and he doesn’t shy away from being vulnerable as he presents it. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great day!

Oh, and by the way... I'm not going to review the Drake album. It just didn't appeal to me, and the more I listened to it, the more I realized how much it was lacking compared to Kanye's Donda. But both albums can take a massive L for HAVING SUCH TRASH ALBUM COVERS! Best songs from CLB are "No Friends in the Industry" and "Knife Talk" , there you go. 

 

Favorite Songs: trademark usa, gorgeous, south Africa, cocoa, family ties, scars, durag activity, vent, 16