Baby Keem releases new album since 2021
On Feb. 20, Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. widely known as “Baby Keem” released a new album for the first time since 2021 titled “Ca$ino,” Baby Keem dedicated this album to his mother and was originally going to name the album after her, but he soon realized that it was unfair to the other people that shaped his life. The title “Ca$ino” refers to Keem’s childhood life in Las Vegas, where he went through some family hardships, including his mother struggling with a gambling addiction and how they constantly struggled with poverty.
The 11 sentimental tracks that are included in the album all showcase the dark and emotional upbringing of Keem’s childhood, along with a documentary that reflects those specific hardships and instabilities. One of the most critical things that Keem includes in the final track of the album is how his mom would take him to the casino with her in hopes of winning enough money to pay their rent, with many other unforgettable moments he experienced in his youth that he still mourns in the present day.
According to Victor-Jenay Cotijo Lopez from The Cavalier Daily, Keem said, “A lot of these stories I used to be embarrassed to talk about … I kind of changed my perspective on that. It’s not embarrassing [anymore], it’s an empowering thing … This album is for that kid that walks home slow.”
Baby Keem did an amazing job expressing his trauma and depression that he experienced as a child, while still having an encapsulating melody and rhythm in all of his songs in the album. The fact that he came back with an album in almost six years and having produced such a great album is really impressive not only for him, but for any artist in the music industry. Even though voters from the AOTY organization rated the album a 72/100, I would personally rate it somewhere in the high eighties to low nineties because of how big a moral message Keem implemented into this masterpiece of an album.
The two songs that caught most of my attention were track five, “House Money,” and track nine, “Circus Circus Freestyle.” The reason why these were really interesting to me was because it brought back the old Baby Keem that I listened to back in 2021 with his album “Melodic Blue.” The way that Keem included Kendrick Lamar in the track “House Money” really surprised me because I wouldn’t think that Lamar would agree to be featured on a couple of songs when Keem wanted the message of this album to be about himself and his past. But Lamar being on this track made the song way better and the fact that Keem always looked up to Lamar expresses Keem’s love for him because Lamar was always an idol to Keem.
“I think the album has a lot of energy to it and it’s very powerful.” It’s relatable for a lot of people and I think it has this connection to how kids go through a lot in their childhoods. When these traumatic experiences get explained into lyrics and words, it just carries this hard energy that brings people out in a good way,” said Gabriela Fernandez ‘28.
Overall, Keem’s performance was impeccable after being away from the music industry for almost six years. The fact that Keem didn’t get that much attention from a lot of other artists in the music industry and also how he is kind of still unnoticed in the industry, concerns me. Baby Keem’s talent isn’t just like any other artist in the rap and hip-hop industry because he casts his emotions into just a two to three minute song, which a lot of artists struggle with. Keem takes his feelings and turns them into a way where not only his fans but also people who are in a similar situation can relate to.
“This album was okay compared to his other albums. I liked some songs in the album, but thought he [Baby Keem] could’ve done better with most of the songs. I thought the message of the album was really good and how he expressed his feelings in the songs,” said Anavaeh Casarez ‘28.
