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In a compelling 2021 campaign, Baby Keem stood out as one of the most distinct members of rap. The Las Vegas rapper integrated his high pitched, squeaky vocals with a constant outflow of creativity that has been used to kickstart his career and assist in his cousin Kendrick Lamar’s past works.

Keem released a surprise deluxe edition of “The Melodic Blue” on October 28, over a year after its original release date, introducing a more mature version of the rapper and showing off what he learned from his year away from the spotlight.

Releasing “The Melodic Blue”

The original version of“The Melodic Blue” was released in September 2021, featuring 16 tracks. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and received six overall RIAA Gold or Platinum certifications.

Keem’s first single before the album dropped, “family ties,” became a Grammy winning hit and a mosh pit anthem that millions of fans and avid music listeners can recount today. The classic trumpet intro and instrumental spotlights Keem and Kendrick Lamar going bar-for-bar on one of the highest charting songs of 2021, setting high expectations for the rest of the album.

Two weeks after the album release, Keem delivered an eye-opening remix of “lost souls” accompanied by R&B artist Brent Faiyaz, adding the new record – along with two other previously dropped singles “no sense” and “hooligan”- as bonus tracks for the collection.

Working as a producer and feature artist after the 2021 project, Keem spent time joining forces with Kendrick. Keem worked on the production of Kendrick’s 2022 album “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers,” producing songs “N95” and “Die Hard,” while performing as a feature on “Savior (Interlude)” and “Savior.”

He has also spent a fair amount of time on tours and performing at large festivals. Keem participated in the “The Big Steppers” tour with Kendrick, went on his own 28 show tour at the start of 2022 and even made a pit stop at Syracuse University’s Block Party in May 2022 at the conclusion of his tour.

With performances at Rolling Loud, Day ‘N’ Vegas, Coachella and other festivals under his belt, Keem has solidified himself as one of the better performers in the industry, having a knack to bring the energy out of the crowd.

Standout tracks on the deluxe

Keem’s deluxe edition of “The Melodic Blue” introduces seven new songs, some of which were leaked months prior to the release, that showcase his evolution over the years.

Three features are embedded in the seven tracks, including one from hip-hop megastar Lil Uzi Vert on “bank account.” The “lost souls” remix, “no sense” and “hooligan” are listed as the first three tracks on the deluxe, but were already dropped, leading to an overall 10 song tracklist.

“a life of pain” sees Keem spit one large verse broken up over a Halloween beat, as we hear wolves howling and zombies rasping across a synth/piano instrumental. In the last line of the song, he hints at a possible name for his next project — “and these is eerie times and I put that on pgLang,” referencing the rumored title “Eerie Times.”

Possibly one of the biggest standouts on the album is “killstreaks,” which has two melodic artists in Don Toliver and ascending UK star PinkPantheress on this trip of a track, following the theme of a chase throughout.

PinkPantheress belts the ad libs “want to catch me” at the beginning of the song and ominous verses in between the other two artists stating “Take a look and ride with me, crash my car and ride with me.” Both go into describing the way a woman is hypnotizing Keem down the wrong path.

Again in this track, the heavy use of synths and intriguing elements of the instrumental pull the listener in on the journey, while Keem carries on to rap about trust issues and loyalty with “Are you really for me, are you my road doll, I don’t want another women, this ain’t roll call.”

Originally leaked as “Impatient,” the highly-anticipated track “naked freestyle” finally made its way to streaming services. The track sees Keem discuss relationships with past women and how he believes that he is growing “impatient” from waiting around for his next soulmate.

the melodic blue deluxe drops tonight 9p PT / 12a ET

A photo posted by keem

“highway 95” is a short storytelling track with a creative sample loop of Lauryn Hill singing “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” by the Fuggees. Keem makes it sound like the listener is in the middle of a conversation with him, pondering his ideal date with a woman and being a better boyfriend than all of his mother’s past partners.

“I caught my mama cryin’ ’bout dude, I couldn’t get it, and since then, I hated every boyfriend she been with,” Keem raps.

He goes on to list the women that inspire him, singing “I’m inspired by the women that wanna be politicians, inspired by the women that leisure is ‘go and get it,’ the independent women that never need men to listen.”

What the future holds

A lot of leaked and teased music is still out there for Keem to work with and build. The rapper has teased songs such as “100 Bands” and “Shibuya,” which could be additions to a future project.

“Eerie Times” and “Classical Rage” are two rumored names for his next project — names of two private Instagram accounts Keem follows. The “Classical Rage” account even includes a bio holding the mysterious statement “not album, a genre,” which has listeners digging down the rabbit hole.

Regardless of what the future may hold, the recent deluxe edition of “The Melodic Blue” will have fans on the edge of their seats waiting for the next move.

Published on November 2, 2022 at 11:08 pm