It’s been more than five years since Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar’s cousin and protege, released his debut album The Melodic Blue. Shortly after that, Keem and Kendrick released a single and headlined Camp Flog Gnaw as the Hillbillies. Keem has been pretty quiet for the past few years, and he stayed on the bench during Kendrick’s feud with Drake and his sudden commercial resurgence. But now, Keem is back in the game. A week and a half ago, he announced his second proper album Ca$ino. Today, that album is out.
There’s a lot going on on Ca$ino! It’s a short and energetic record — 11 songs, 37 minutes, only a few guest spots. As you might expect, one of those guests is Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick has a light, casual guest verse on “Good Flirts,” a funky relationship song that also features Infinity Song singer Momo Boyd. Keem does a lot of singing on that track. Kendrick raps about watching Sinners on the couch with his favorite sinner, and he admits, “Shit, I gossip with my bitch like I’m Young Thug, too.” Elsewhere, Oakland rap pioneer Too Short and past Keem collaborator Che Ecru also make appearances.
Ca$ino sprints through a bunch of different beat styles and really leans into Baby Keem’s passionate-squeak delivery. It’s a little unfocused and all-over-the-place, but I’m on my second listen, and I haven’t gotten bored yet. There are some truly exciting moments on the record, and there are also some troubling ones, like the part on “Circus Circus Free$tyle” where Keem says, “I almost died when I took the vaccine/ I was gone for two years, down bad, reflecting.” On “Birds & The Bees,” he raps over a chipmunk-soul sample of Feist’s “Honey Honey.” Keem co-produced every track on the album, and producers like Danja, Sounwave, Cardo, and Ojivolta also appear in the credits. Stream the album below.
Ca$ino is out now on pgLang/Columbia.
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