Hykeem Carter, better known by his stage name, “Baby Keem,” is back.
“Ca$ino,” Keem’s second studio album, follows up on “The Melodic Blue,” which was released nearly five years ago on Sept. 10, 2021. A deluxe edition added seven new songs just over a year later. Since then, there has been radio silence for his solo career.
That was until Feb. 10, as Baby Keem began the rollout for Friday’s album with a flurry of posts promoting the return. Alongside the album announcement was a full 36-date tour and tracklist.
Selling tickets for his tour before anyone could hear the album might’ve seemed premature, but the demand was there. 12 dates sold out instantly, with Keem adding five additional shows to accommodate.
The tracklist received a more mixed response. After such a long layoff, many listeners, myself included, may have expected more than a 12-song, sub-40-minute runtime release. “Tubi,” featuring Che Ecru, was cut from the original tracklist, leaving the album with just 11 songs.
The last element of the rollout let fans listen to the album on Thursday, an hour before its official release at midnight. Hosted in Los Angeles, Keem streamed the listening party on YouTube to 65,000+ live viewers.
As one of those viewers, here is my raw reaction on first listen:
“No Security” led off, a slow, melodic song as Keem made his way to the stage. It sets the tone, a short intro that summarizes what he has been up to and where his mind has been.
Slot machine sound effects rang out, transitioning into the title track, “Ca$ino.” A clear contrast to the opener, the much more energetic song was performed live by Keem with just the beat accompanying him. The raw element of the live performance added to the first listen.
“Birds & The Bees” batted third, bringing the listening party back to recordings as Keem patrolled the stage. Closer to the sound of songs off “The Melodic Blue,” the chunky beat and background vocals skated alongside Keem’s lyrics.
Baby Keem brought a new sound to “Good Flirts” thanks to Momo Boyd’s contributions. On stage, Boyd and Keem interacted with the YouTube chat. Keem’s cousin, Kendrick Lamar, launched into his feature, matching the vibe and adding storytelling that made it a fun listen.
“House Money” immediately stood out with an early beat switch. Lamar returned for the second-straight song, providing the chorus, as Denzel Curry added the ad-libs.
“I am not a Lyricist” brought Keem back to live performance, as he talks over his struggles before allowing the recording to take over the middle of the song. The track wraps with a monologue by Keem that you’d expect to hear from André 3000.
“$ex Appeal,” featuring Too $hort, adds another vibe to the do-it-all album. The lyric, “we in Miami,” summarizes the sound of the song. Keem’s production and catchy hook are ear candy, capitalized on by a strong verse from Too $hort.
“Highway 95 pt. 2” shared little similarity to the original track from “The Melodic Blue.” Despite the differences, it carved its own lane and was supported by a simple piano and drums.
“Circus Circus Free$tyle” brought the best beat switch of the album. Keem turned it up a notch and glided on the brass backing track. A second switch was a welcome surprise, and the song somehow got better as the outro introduced funky elements I’ve come to love from pgLang.
“Dramatic Girl” could be the song of the summer if we weren’t in February. Keem’s willingness to stretch his range all the way to “singing love songs” was a gamble that paid off. Ecru ended up having a verse on this song, still appearing despite the track with his listed feature being cut.
The final song, “No Blame,” brings the most emotion of the album. Keem is talking directly to his mother in the song, whose addiction issues heavily affected her ability to raise her son.
There is something for everyone, even if it’s just the spectacular production across the album that has been the standard for pgLang since the label’s first release with Keem’s debut studio album.
It’s hard to say that his second surpasses “The Melodic Blue,” but that lies primarily with the short tracklist. I hope that eventually, “Tubi” will be added to the digital album after its late removal.
In what could be considered a quality over quantity approach, Keem delivered in his return. Back with momentum, now the question is how long we’ll have to wait this time to hear more.
