Baby Keem released his debut studio album, “The Melodic Blue” on Sept. 10. The upcoming rapper, singer, and songwriter released the album with 16 tracks that play just over 53 minutes long. It is noteable that Baby Keem also chose for all of the tracks to be styled in lowercase letters. “The Melodic Blue” was released under Columbia Records and pgLang, a new record label co-founded by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free.

The album cover pictures Baby Keem sitting on a dock that is painted with many different colors as he looks into the water around him. The colors on the dock are reminiscent of his previous singles’ cover art. The album’s title, The Melodic Blue, could be related to the water and colors seen in the cover art which represent Keem’s musical journey up until where he is now.

Baby Keem starts off the album with the track “trademark usa.” It begins quietly with Keem expressing his feelings about an ex-girlfriend, until the track suddenly explodes into a hard trap beat. He goes on to rap about how his life has permanently changed since getting a taste of success in his career. The track turns in another direction with a fast beat switch, something Keem is known for doing. There is a short segment about love in the second verse, and the track wraps up with a long final verse which implies his stage name was a nickname his mom gave him. Even though Keem has really good flow on this track, its main critique is that it fails to give a main topic or idea of what the album will about. However, tracks ahead in the album show that Keem does not necessarily need a main focal point to make good music.

The tracks “family ties” and “range brothers” both feature the critically acclaimed rapper, Kendrick Lamar, who is also Baby Keem’s cousin. The two deliver stunning rap performances on the single “family ties” which is the album’s most played song. Keem starts the first half of the song and explains how Kendrick has “opened up doors” for him in the rap industry. Baby Keem does not hold back on this verse and proves that he can hold his own ground while making a song with such a popular feature. Following the pattern of many of Keem’s songs, there are a couple of beat switches in this track that keep it interesting. Kendrick Lamar finishes the song with his first verse since 2019, where he shows off his incredible wordplay and flow that rap enthusiasts know him for. He also hints at a new album which is expected to release sometime this year. The feature of Kendrick Lamar on this album is really good for Baby Keem because it brings in many more listeners who can appreciate Keem’s talent as well.

Overall, the album has many good songs but does not completely tie all of them together in this project. Still, Baby Keem delivered several amazing tracks with the release of this album and will only improve as an artist in the years ahead.