Baby Keem picks his favourite artists of all time
Carson rapper Baby Keem has been teasing a new album for months, but fans have yet to hear a new project from the West Coast emcee. Last year the lyricist released a song featuring his close friend, Kendrick Lamar, entitled ‘Hillbillies.’ However, Keem quickly let his fans know it wasn’t a single and wouldn’t be appearing on any future project.
Keem has been quiet recently and hasn’t released a full-length studio album since The Melodic Blue, which hit streaming platforms in 2021. Since ‘The Hillbillies’, he has merely featured on one track, ‘Leave Me Alone’ with Fred Again, that appeared on the latter’s USB album earlier this year.
That said, his lack of material hasn’t stopped Keem from doing press runs, and during an impromptu appearance on Apple Music’s Rap Life show, hosted by HOT 97. ‘s Ebro Darden, on which the emcee spoke about various things, including his friendship with Kendrick Lamar, the approach he takes to releasing music, and his love for experimentalism in the studio.
Speaking about why he is hesitant to release music and doesn’t mind making fans wait, Keem told Darden, “We definitely got some records on the drive that’s like ‘Damn! Those gotta see the light’, but it has got to be the right time, and it’s gotta feel right! Especially with The Melodic Blue, I was in such an experimental pocket with myself, tryna push myself to the limit, so I didn’t even really know how it would go.”
He then spoke about the repetition that is present in hip-hop these days and detailed how he wants to surprise listeners with his albums and keep them on their toes. Explaining his determination to keep things fresh, Baby Keem continued, “I don’t want to do the same thing with every project, and I’m young. I know I just started, but I am trying to do something different for every album.
While speaking about his last full-length studio album, The Melodic Blue, Darden praised the various sounds he heard and described it as a unique blend of many different styles. He cited Young Thug and Kendrick Lamar as two artists he heard as potential influences.
Showing his appreciation of Darden, Keem admitted that it wasn’t only Thug and Lamar who had influenced the body of work, but a long list of MCs. Revealing the contemporary artists that he considers his favourites, Keem stated, “Influences-wise, I love Uzi, I love Carti, I love [K.] Dot, Trav, that’s just right now, but growing up, I was really on Kanye. I could keep going on and on, I like 3K.”
Although nobody is sure what Keem will deliver this year, on January 3rd, the California native took to X (formerly Twitter) simply writing, “Child With Wolves.” He then shared some album artwork on his Instagram. Many have assumed that this will be released this year. However, no official release date has been named.
Baby Keem’s favourite artists of all time:
- Lil Uzi Vert
- Playboi Carti
- Kendrick Lamar
- Travis Scott
- Kanye West
- André 3000