After five long years, Los Angeles rapper Baby Keem released his sophomore effort “Ca$ino,” on Friday, Feb. 20.
In a marked turn from his bouncy and upbeat debut album, “The Melodic Blue,” Keem delves into his past and troubled family life. The album title is a reference to his mother’s gambling addiction while they were living in Las Vegas. The scant promotional material — three short documentaries about his early childhood and an album listening party — also discuss Keem’s rough childhood further.
The opener “No Security” details the two main themes Keem tackles throughout the album: his family trauma and the pressure associated with being ‘the next-up’ in the rap world. Behind a somber Natalie Bergman sample and piano instrumental, Keem raps with a new, deeper voice, in contrast to the high-pitched fervor on his debut. He delivers more of a spoken-word performance on this track.
“Ca$ino” is a song split into two parts, and a great change of pace after the bleak intro. The first half is Keem rapping about his cavalier life over a thumping rage-type beat. After the beat switch, Keem becomes a lot more introspective. He begins talking about the death of his grandmother, who raised him in the absence of his mother, sounding close to tears.
“Birds & the Bees” debuts Keem’s new alter-ego, “Waseem,” in a romantic R&B song. Waseem is a masculine Arabic name meaning “handsome” or “graceful.” In this song, the ever-graceful Keem flirts with his girlfriend, and the song’s funky keyboard instrumental makes it a great 2000s R&B pastiche, while giving him the opportunity to flex some of his singing chops.
Kendrick Lamar enters the ring for his feature on “Good Flirts,” another lithe love song with a beat that calls back to 2000’s R&B. While Lamar sounds like he’s sleepwalking through his verse, it has some funny moments with the slight diss towards Young Thug and Lamar calling himself goofy.
Even if Keem lost steam at the end of “House Money,” it transitions perfectly into one of the heaviest songs in this album, “I am not a Lyricist.” Despite the song title, he delivers some of the hardest hitting lyrics about living in Las Vegas, or “Sin City,” as a child in an unstable home. Keem contradicts the song title a second time by not using any complex rhyme patterns or metaphors or double or triple entendres; he delivers his lines in a dejected, rote cadence, as if he is numb to all the vices presented in this song.
Sandwiched in between two bleak songs about Keem’s family life is the west coast funk-inspired “$ex Appeal.” Even then, the album’s one outright club track keeps its feet in the melancholy with the downtempo beat and bass-heavy instrumental. The autotune on Keem’s voice adds a fun dimension to Keem’s flirtatious lines that keeps it distinct from other tracks like “Bird & the Bees” or “Good Flirts.”
In “Highway 95 pt. 2,” the spotlight is centered purely on Baby Keem, as he reveals his history as a runaway child, speeding down Highway 95 to escape the abusive environment and poverty he lived in. Unlike “I am not a Lyricist,” Keem sounds a lot more emotive here, and is a lot more revealing of his traumatic upbringing, dropping details here and there that add to the mosaic of his childhood.
For a palette cleanser “Circus Circus Free$tyle,” is an endlessly entertaining romp. This song has a similar structure to “Ca$ino;” a braggadocious first part complemented with a hard-hitting beat. Then after the beat switch Keem becomes more introspective and reflects on his family life, painting a portrait on how his childhood is connected to his current life as a rap star.
“Dramatic Girl” is the most unique song on this album; less west-coast rap, more indie pop. In a high-pitched register, Keem and co-singer Che Ecru sing about wanting to have a deeper emotional connection and honesty from their partner, in contrast with earlier songs which never dove that deep.
This struggle for connection perfectly complements the final track, “No Blame,” where Keem’s first words are “I don’t blame you mama.” Keem opens up more about his traumatic past and says he doesn’t blame his mother, because he knows she had traumatic experiences as well.
Baby Keem’s new artistic direction takes some getting used to, and some listeners may be bristled by the heavy subjects this album explores. While others commend the effort to create a deeply personal record that defied outside expectations.
Rating: 3/5