From the time Baby Keem dropped Die For My B*tch back in 2019, it has been clear that the 20-year-old rapper is ascending to stardom.
With the success of singles like "Orange Soda" and "Rockstar P," as well as Keem's family ties with Kendrick Lamar (the two LA rappers are cousins), Keem has been on an upward trajectory for a minute now and the last month has served as a culmination of many steps forward.
Releasing his debut album, The Melodic Blue on Septmber 10, Keem secured a top-five Billboard Top 200 record and with the viral successes of Lamar-assisted records "family ties" and "range brothers," the young rapper has exploded onto the scene in a major way. Not just because of the buzz surrounding him, but because of the music.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
Where "family ties," "range brothers" and "durag activity" featuring Travis Scott may have introduced fans to Keem and The Melodic Blue, album cuts like "issues," "first order of business" and "lost souls" featuring Brent Faiyaz have given a window into a more introspective, more melodic, more musical version of Baby Keem.
And on the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards red carpet, The Melodic Blue rapper revealed that is a path he is going to continue down.
Acknowledging that he just dropped and is taking some time to himself, Keem ensured fans that he would be back in the lab soon.
"Right now, I'm on a little mental break right now. Just having some fun to myself, you know," the "16" rapper said. "(I'm) experiencing the world. But we going back in and we gon' work on some new shit. New, personal, humble beginnings in the music. Tapping into what growing up was like. It's going to be very personal."