Baby Keem
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Baby_Keem_artwork.jpg/220px-Baby_Keem_artwork.jpg) 2023 drawing of Baby Keem
|
Born
| Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr.
(
2000-10-22
)
October 22, 2000
(age 23)
|
---|
Occupations
|
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
- record producer
|
---|
Years active
| 2014?present
|
---|
Relatives
| |
---|
Musical career
|
Also known as
| |
---|
Origin
| Las Vegas
, Nevada, U.S.
|
---|
Genres
| |
---|
Labels
| |
---|
|
Website
| keem
.science
|
---|
Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr.
(born October 22, 2000), his
stage name
being
Baby Keem
, is an American
rapper
and record
producer
. He was raised in
Las Vegas
, and was noticed in the late 2010s with his help to
Black Panther: The Album
,
Redemption
,
Crash Talk
, and
The Lion King: The Gift
. He was first noticed in 2019 through his
sleeper hit
single "
Orange Soda
".
After he signed a deal with
PGLang
and
Columbia Records
in 2020, he released his first studio album
The Melodic Blue
(2021), which was very successful. It was certified
platinum
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), and its final single, "
Family Ties
", won the
Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance
. His help with
Kanye West
on
Donda
(2021) and his cousin
Kendrick Lamar
on
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
(2022) earned him two chances for the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
.
Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. was born on October 22, 2000, in
Carson, California
.
[1]
His mother had problems with
drug abuse
and
alcoholism
,
[2]
while his father, Hykeem Carter Sr., was
not in his life
.
[3]
Carter was raised in
Las Vegas, Nevada
by his grandmother until he was eight years old, and he thinks of her to be his second mother.
[4]
A lot of his childhood was spent in music studios as he watched his aunts and uncles
put music onto CDs
using
LimeWire
.
[5]
He also had problems with
eviction
and needed
food stamps
.
[6]
Carter was raised around a musically skilled family, where all of his uncles and cousins were rappers.
[7]
His older cousins include rapper
Kendrick Lamar
and basketball player
Nick Young
.
[8]
[9]
He may also share some relatives with rapper
Tanna Leone
. He was always interested in rapping, but was not confident with his high-pitched voice and chose to wait until it was developed. When he was thirteen, Carter began producing music using Apple software on his computer.
[10]
At fifteen, he borrowed
$
300 from his grandmother and bought a small recording setup for his bedroom on
Craigslist
.
[10]
He soon moved to
Los Angeles
to go into a musical job. Carter disliked his "boring", "dry", and "small" hometown where "everybody knows everybody", and gave credit to its old
music scene
as a big factor in his decision to move. He used to post and
livestream
Minecraft
and
FIFA
gameplay on
YouTube
and
Twitch
.
[11]
Carter made his first song, "Come Thru", during his freshman year of high school. It was removed from the
Internet
and he hopes "nobody will ever find it."
[12]
His first
extended play
(EP),
Oct
, was
independently released
under his real name on November 7, 2017, but was removed from major
streaming
services a bit after its release.
[13]
RapTV
said that the 9-track EP showed traces of Carter's future musical style by "featuring a mix of bouncy, hard beats and slower, emotional cuts."
[13]
He released his second EP,
Midnight
, on January 16, 2018. It showed the same production as
Oct
, but
RapTV
said that Carter's lines were "more confident and loud."
[13]
In an interview with
Complex
, he said that
Midnight
did not have any big artistic way, and described the project as "just nine songs in my stash that I liked and put out."
[12]
After he
emailed
a sample of his production to an independent record label, called
Top Dawg Entertainment
, Carter helped the
soundtrack album
for the superhero film
Black Panther
(2018) as a producer.
[14]
During the summer, he released two EPs,
No Name
and
Hearts and Darts
, and produced two songs on
Jay Rock's
third
album
Redemption
.
[15]
He considers
Hearts and Darts
, which was his first project under his
stage name
Baby Keem, to have the style that
Midnight
did not have.
[14]
In October 2018, he released his first
mixtape
,
The Sound of Bad Habit
, through
the Orchard
and
Sony Music
.
[16]
The mixtape was produced by
Cardo
.
2019?2020:
Die for My Bitch
and breakthrough
[
change
|
change source
]
Keem produced two songs on
Schoolboy Q
's fifth album,
Crash Talk
(2019).
[17]
On July 19, 2019, he produced a song for singer
Beyonce
's soundtrack album
The Lion King: The Gift
and released his second mixtape,
Die for My Bitch
.
[18]
[19]
The
alternative hip hop
mixtape had strong
pop-punk
and
alternative rock
pieces,
[20]
and was given big news attention.
[21]
Its lead single, "
Orange Soda
", became a
sleeper hit
and helped Keem make his first songs on the
Billboard
200
,
Billboard
Hot 100
and
Emerging Artists
charts.
[22]
He helped the mixtape with his first concert tour, the Die for My Bitch Tour, which visited some places across the U.S. from November 12 to November 20, 2019.
[23]
Keem's partnership with creative services company
pgLang
, founded by Kendrick Lamar and filmmaker
Dave Free
, was announced through his appearance in the company's visual mission statement on March 5, 2020.
[24]
He was included on
XXL
'
s yearly
Freshman Class
list in August.
[25]
After signing a recording contract with
Columbia Records
, Keem released the single album "Hooligan / Sons & Critics" on September 18, 2020;
[26]
with Sons & Critics confirming his relation to Lamar after rumors began to emerge.
[27]
Keem was put on
Kanye West
's song "
Praise God
" with
Travis Scott
for Kanye's tenth album,
Donda
(2021).
[28]
The Melodic Blue
, his first studio album, was released on September 10, 2021.
[29]
He co-produced 14 of the album's 16 standard songs.
[30]
It was given positive reviews from music critics, with praise towards its bold nature and Keem's growing potential,
[31]
but criticism towards its "half-baked" production.
[32]
The album started at number five on the
Billboard
200, becoming Keem's first top-10 album in the U.S.
[33]
Two of the album's four singles, "
Durag Activity
" with Travis Scott and "
Family Ties
" with Kendrick Lamar,
[34]
had good success.
[35]
Keem went on the Melodic Blue Tour, which visited cities in North America and Europe from November 2021 to July 2022, and appeared on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
to help sell
The Melodic Blue
.
[36]
A
B-side
to the album was released on September 22, 2021,
[37]
while the deluxe edition was released on October 28, 2022.
[38]
One of Keem's favorite artists and big musical inspirations is
Kid Cudi
.
[4]
He was very inspired by his changes of his voice and emotional connection, mostly on the single "
Immortal
" (2013).
[4]
[39]
As a child, Keem remembered listening to
Kanye West
's
808s & Heartbreak
(2008) during a
snow day
in Las Vegas and being inspired by the album's
cinematic quality
.
[5]
He has said that he will "never say anything ill (bad)" about West, and gives him credit for consistently changing
music genre
boundaries.
[40]
Keem self-identifies as part of the
Mike Will Made It
and
Metro Boomin
generation of record producers, and has inspiration from both artists.
[40]
Film
Headlining
- Die For My Bitch Tour (2019)
- The Melodic Blue Tour (2021?2022)
Supporting
|
---|
|
Studio albums
| |
---|
Mixtapes
| |
---|
Singles
| |
---|
Other songs
| |
---|
Family
| |
---|
Related articles
| |
---|
- ↑
Thomas, Fred.
"Baby Keem Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Rosenberger, Ryan (September 20, 2021).
"Baby Keem flashes serious potential on The Melodic Blue"
.
The Line of Best Fit
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Levy, Piet (April 2, 2022).
"Baby Keem proved at sold-out Milwaukee show he'll be a huge star, just like his cousin Kendrick Lamar"
.
Journal Sentinel
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
4.0
4.1
4.2
Setaro, Shawn (July 31, 2019).
"Baby Keem Has Arrived"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
5.0
5.1
Pack, The Rap.
"Baby Keem On His Journey, His Relationship W/ Kendrick Lamar, Working W/ Drake + More | The Rap Pack"
.
YouTube
. Retrieved
22 September
2022
.
- ↑
Kelly, Chris (November 28, 2021).
"Resonating with his crowd, Baby Keem seems ready to reach for something more"
.
Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Isom, Eric (July 14, 2018).
"Meet Hykeem Carter, The Mysterious Artist Who Has Credits on Multiple TDE Projects"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Tucker, Tristan (September 13, 2021).
"Baby Keem pops off, delivers big in debut album"
.
Technician
. Retrieved
2021-11-03
.
- ↑
Palladino, Paul (October 31, 2012).
"Interview: Nick Young Talks Style, His Cousin Kendrick Lamar and His Experience With a Fire Extinguisher"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
May 11,
2018
.
- ↑
10.0
10.1
Lamar, Kendrick
(October 19, 2020).
"Kendrick Lamar in conversation with Baby Keem"
.
i-D
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
"First Appearances - BET Hip Hop Awards 2022"
.
BET
. October 3, 2022
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
12.0
12.1
Isom, Eric (July 14, 2018).
"Meet Hykeem Carter, The Mysterious Artist Who Has Credits on Multiple TDE Projects"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
13.0
13.1
13.2
"Baby Keem: The Full Profile"
.
RapTV
. 2021-02-04
. Retrieved
2023-11-14
.
- ↑
14.0
14.1
Isom, Eric (July 14, 2018).
"Meet Hykeem Carter, The Mysterious Artist Who Has Credits on Multiple TDE Projects"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Draughorne, Kenan (June 18, 2018).
"Review: Jay Rock's "Redemption" Quietly Unlocks A Career Milestone"
.
HipHopDX
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Setaro, Shawn (July 31, 2019).
"Baby Keem Has Arrived"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Williams, Kyann-Sian (April 26, 2019).
"ScHoolboy Q ? 'CrasH Talk' review"
.
NME
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Petridis, Alexis
(July 19, 2019).
"Beyonce: The Lion King: The Gift review ? superstar shows impeccable taste"
.
the Guardian
.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Ivey, Justin (July 18, 2019).
"Baby Keem Delivers "DIE FOR MY BITCH" Project"
.
HipHopDX
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Galil, Leor (November 1, 2019).
"Rapper-producer Baby Keem has fun switching up his styles on his latest mixtape"
.
Chicago Reader
. Retrieved
November 14,
2019
.
- ↑
Pierre, Alphonso (2020-09-25).
"Baby Keem Has a Lot of Hype?But Is He Any Good?"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
2023-11-14
.
- ↑
Zellner, Xander (December 17, 2019).
"Beyonce & Kendrick Lamar Collaborator Baby Keem Debuts on Emerging Artists Chart"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Jefferson, Devon (November 13, 2019).
"Baby Keem Drops Wild "Orange Soda" Video"
.
HipHopDX
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Strauss, Matthew (March 5, 2020).
"Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free Launch New Company pgLang"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
March 6,
2020
.
- ↑
Cline, Georgette (August 11, 2020).
"XXL 2020 FRESHMAN CLASS REVEALED"
.
XXL
. Retrieved
August 11,
2020
.
- ↑
"hooligan / sons & critics - Single by Baby Keem on Apple Music"
. September 17, 2020
. Retrieved
September 17,
2020
– via
Apple Music
.
- ↑
Skelton, Eric (September 23, 2020).
"It's Baby Keem Season. Pay Attention"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Bloom, Madison; Strauss, Matthew; Yoo, Noah (August 29, 2021).
"Kanye West Finally Releases New Album Donda"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
September 7,
2021
.
- ↑
Triscari, Caleb (September 7, 2021).
"Baby Keem to release new album 'The Melodic Blue' this week"
.
NME
. Retrieved
September 7,
2023
.
- ↑
Minsket, Evan; Monroe, Jazz (September 6, 2021).
"Baby Keem Releasing New Album The Melodic Blue This Week"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
September 7,
2021
.
- ↑
Skelton, Eric (December 1, 2021).
"The Best Albums of 2021"
.
Complex
.
Archived
from the original on May 25, 2023
. Retrieved
May 25,
2023
.
- ↑
Svetz, Josh (October 5, 2021).
"Baby Keem Shows Potential But Delivers Half-Baked Songs On PgLang Debut 'The Melodic Blue'
"
.
HipHopDX
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Caulfield, Keith (September 19, 2021).
"Drake's 'Certified Lover Boy' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
November 14,
2021
.
- ↑
Renshaw, David (August 27, 2021).
"Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar team up on "family ties"
"
.
The Fader
. Retrieved
September 7,
2021
.
- ↑
Okon, Wongo (April 30, 2021).
"Travis Scott And Baby Keem's 'Durag Activity' Is A Clouded Banger"
.
Uproxx
. Retrieved
November 14,
2023
.
- ↑
Powell, Jon (September 9, 2021).
"Baby Keem debuts new single during "Fallon" performance"
.
Revolt
. Archived from
the original
on September 9, 2021
. Retrieved
September 9,
2021
.
- ↑
Shifferaw, Abel (2021-09-21).
"Baby Keem Updates 'The Melodic Blue' Album With Brent Faiyaz Feature"
.
Complex
.
Archived
from the original on May 25, 2023
. Retrieved
2023-05-25
.
- ↑
Feldstein, Josh (2 November 2022).
"Baby Keem's deluxe edition of 'The Melodic Blue' leaves fans eager for more"
.
The Daily Orange
.
Archived
from the original on November 17, 2022
. Retrieved
17 November
2022
.
- ↑
Saponara, Michael (October 24, 2022).
"Kid Cudi & Baby Keem Link Up At Kendrick Lamar 'Big Steppers' Show: 'Long Overdue'
"
.
HipHopDX
. Retrieved
November 15,
2023
.
- ↑
40.0
40.1
Rouhani, Neena (2021-09-20).
"Baby Keem Gets Personal: 'My Mission Here Is Much Deeper'
"
.
Billboard
. Retrieved
2022-03-11
.
- ↑
Cowen, Trace William.
"Watch Kendrick Lamar's Big Steppers Tour Show From Paris on 10th Anniversary of 'Good Kid, m.A.A.d City'
"
.
Complex
. Retrieved
2023-11-13
.
- ↑
IMBD
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30225786
- ↑
"Here Are All the 2022 BET Awards Winners: Full List"
.
Billboard
. 2022-06-27
. Retrieved
2022-06-27
.
- ↑
"The Weeknd & Doja Cat Lead 2022 Billboard Music Awards Finalists: Full List"
.
Billboard
. April 8, 2022
. Retrieved
April 9,
2022
.
- ↑
"2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Nominations List"
.
Grammys.com
. November 23, 2021
. Retrieved
November 23,
2021
.
- ↑
Freiman, Jordan (February 6, 2023).
"Grammys 2023: List of winners and nominees"
.
CBS News
. Retrieved
August 9,
2023
.
- ↑
Blistein, Jon (2023-11-10).
"Taylor Swift, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo Lead 2024 Grammy Nominees"
.
Rolling Stone
. Retrieved
2023-11-13
.
- ↑
"Griff and Sigrid win Best Collaboration at the BandLab NME Awards 2022"
.
NME
. 2022-03-02
. Retrieved
2022-06-27
.
- ↑
"Here Are the XXL Awards 2022 Winners"
.
XXL
. Retrieved
2022-06-27
.