Rapper, producer, and composer Baby Keem has worked on his own stylistically-shifting music as well as contributed to projects by some of the best in the rap genre. In mixtapes such as Die for My Bitch in 2019, he dabbled with melodic rap, trap beats, retro beats, and even ethereal synth sounds on his breakout single, “Orange Soda.” His first studio album, The Melodic Blue, was released in 2022.
Rapper, producer, and composer Baby Keem has worked on his own stylistically-shifting music as well as contributed to projects by some of the best in the rap genre. In mixtapes such as Die for My Bitch in 2019, he dabbled with melodic rap, trap beats, retro beats, and even ethereal synth sounds on his breakout single, “Orange Soda.” His first studio album, The Melodic Blue, was released in 2022. It peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 and gave rise to the Grammy-winning song “Family Ties,” featuring Kendrick Lamar. In 2023, he and Lamar collaborated once more on “The Hillbillies.”
The Album of Black Panther [Music Composed and Influenced by]
Hykeem Carter gave birth to Baby Keem in Carson, California, in 2000. Early in youth, he developed a growing interest in music, and by the time he was fifteen, he was writing his own songs. With the release of his Midnight EP in 2018, he adopted the Baby Keem alias after releasing multiple songs under his real name. He was becoming a better producer as well as a better rapper. He co-wrote and co-produced a song for Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther: The Album in 2018 while residing in Los Angeles. He also contributed to tracks for Jay Rock’s Redemption, which went on to win a Grammy Award the same year. In the summer of 2018, Keem dropped another EP titled Hearts and Darts, and in the fall, he dropped a mixtape titled The Sound of a Bad Habit. Throughout 2019, the rapper produced songs for ScHoolboy Q and one for The Lion King: The Gift’s soundtrack. In July of the same year, he dropped his second mixtape, Die for My Bitch, a 14-track album that featured a range of production methods and styles. With two songs, “France Freestyle” and “Orange Soda,” Keem closed off the year. He’ll be back in 2020 with the melancholy “Hooligan” and “Sons & Critics Freestyle.”
He and Travis Scott dropped the single “Durag Activity” in 2021, and soon after, he dropped the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Family Ties.” His first studio album, The Melodic Blue, which was released later that year, was made possible by these two songs. With another Lamar feature, the project proved Keem’s adaptability even more. “Family Ties” won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance, and the album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200. In 2023, Keem and Lamar resumed their collaboration on “The Hillbillies”.
