Are Baby Keem And Kendrick Lamar Related?

People are wondering if Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem are related. Kendrick Lamar is one of the biggest names in the music world. People who don’t listen to rap know who he is. People that dismissive of most current rap approve of him. Whenever the greatest rappers of all time are discussed, they bring his name up. For many people, he is the epitome of what it means to be an artist - not just a rapper. Many audiences universally celebrated and acclaimed him. His album, To Pimp A Butterfly, has been praised by many for its innovation. His most recent album, Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, has been praised for its vulnerability. Kendrick has done multiple collaborations throughout his career. Overall, one of the most prominent ones was with Baby Keem.

Baby Keem is a rapper from California. He built a buzz for himself around singles before dropping a full length project. The cover art for his singles became instantly recognizable. One of the first ones he released was called “FRANCE FREESTYLE”. The cover art for this single looked like a dark blue paint swatch. Many people saw this as aesthetically pleasing. He used the same template for a single called “ORANGE SODA”. But, this time used an orange paint swatch. He continued this for three more singles. Often, he could simply post the artwork and people would know it meant a new single was coming. However, his single titled “family ties” departed from that format. It featured a family photo with almost all the members' eyes covered by a black bar. This was the artwork for his single with Kendrick Lamar.  

Baby Keem’s most recent project is titled The Melodic Blue. One of the singles for it was a song called “family ties”. Before the song was released, there was quite a buzz surrounding it. For many people, the interest in it came from the Kendrick Lamar feature. Before this point, Kendrick had not dropped a project since DAMN. in 2017. Within the video for the song, there was someone holding a pgLang flag behind Kendrick. PgLang is the collective that Kendrick Lamar started with Dave Free. Before this, Kendrick had only released a teaser advertisement for it. Many listeners were not sure exactly what it was. However, they did know it could be seen in the copyright information during the title card in the song’s music video. The fact these two artists had a song together was very exciting for listeners.

There was another song on The Melodic Blue that had a lot of people talking. This song was called “range brothers”. This was another song on the album that had a Kendrick Lamar feature on it. A portion of Kendrick’s verse leaked before the album was released. Song leaks are not uncommon these days. In fact, there are some places that specialize in finding and sharing them. The portion of Kendrick’s verse that leaked confused many listeners. Out of context, it seemed very odd and yet humorous. People were parodying it quickly and discussing what its purpose could be. Others concluded it was someone doing an impression of him. Once the song was officially released, listeners learned it was real and the entire verse was unique. Still, the memes and parodies of it continued. 

Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar are related. In fact, they are cousins. But, many people did not become aware of this until recently. Kendrick Lamar is older than Baby Keem and put out music before he did. However, the two of them have been working together for years. In fact, one of their earliest connections is on the song “Redemption Interlude” from the Kendrick Lamar and TDE helmed Black Panther Soundtrack. Baby Keem, who is credited by his government name Hykeem Carter, has production and writing credits on the song. Baby Keem did not use his connection to Kendrick to jumpstart his music career. In fact, he produced for other TDE artists like ScHoolboy Q and Jay Rock before officially making a song with Kendrick. 

Many people have tried to decipher how far back Kendrick and Baby Keem’s relationship goes. The cover art for “family ties” presents them with a very clear indicator. In it, Kendrick can be seen looking very young and Baby Keem looks even younger. This shows that they were truly around each other back in the day. In an even stronger confirmation, Baby Keem refers to Kendrick as “Man-Man” in his “family ties” verse. Kendrick’s family members were the only people who called him that. To see where they are now is a success story for both of them. Also, it's even more impactful that Baby Keem is signed to Kendrick Lamar’s label, pgLang. The two of them have stuck by each other to the point that they have both made waves in the music world together and separately.

[Via]