Hip-hop fans across the country haven’t heard from Las Vegas rapper Baby Keem in quite some time. Keem, the younger cousin of rap icon Kendrick Lamar, left his fans hanging for majority of the year after dropping his sophomore album, Die For My B—h, in July 2019.
Following his induction into the XXL 2020 Freshman Class in August, Keem made a return to his solo music career Sept. 18 with the release of two songs, “hooligan” and “sons & critics freestyle,” along with a music video that is — to say the least — a bit creepy.
“hooligan” first gained traction when Keem played the snippet on an Instagram Live stream back in January. Flooding his feed with fire emojis, fans were stoked to hear Keem’s high-pitched voice surrounded by a thundering 808.
Little did they know, they would have to wait another eight months before the song’s release.
With direction by Jake Schreier, the “hooligan” video was released under Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free’s creative umbrella, pgLang. The video showcases Keem’s storytelling abilities that fans became accustomed to in DFMB, which saw four of the album’s 14 songs made into visual edits.
“hooligan” paints a picture of Keem’s shaky and clearly toxic love life and all the problems that accompany casual relationships with multiple partners. This is a recurring theme of Keem’s discography since his 2018 debut EP, Hearts and Darts.
The video begins with a slow motion shot of Keem walking alone down a dark street with his hands in his black leather jacket pockets as the sinister sound of repetitive piano keys crescendo into the song’s initial beat drop. Upon the first syllable of his opening verse, the audience is directly taken to the bedroom of a girl Keem is presumably dating. His current flame is doing her makeup and lip-syncing the opening lines of the first verse while Keem sits on the edge of the bed with an intense gaze into the camera.
He gives an unsettling Mona-Lisa-type glare that makes the viewer question whether they’re watching a music video or the next Jordan Peele horror flick. Throughout the story, three other women are shown rapping Keem’s verses and pre-chorus as Keem himself is either staring into the audience's soul or soul-searching down dark street alleys.
His performance effectively takes the viewer’s attention away from the song itself, and while Keem lingers in the background like a fly on the wall, he still remains the center of attention.
Keem and Schreier perfectly execute a visual that conveys a dark aesthetic of the fall season and speaks on Keem’s young, rockstar lifestyle of sex, drugs and making amazing music — most likely participating more in the first two activities due to COVID-19 and the inability to tour. Just as he did a year ago in songs like “HONEST” and “MY EX,” the *19-year-old rapper opens up about the headaches of having multiple relationships and the challenges of dividing time between his women and his craft.
It’s a problem for many young people of Gen Z: searching to find yourself while simultaneously attaching yourself to others that are just as lost as you are. In a generation gradually becoming known for its fear of commitment and long-lasting relationships, Keem is an artist who presents a new approach in expressing the emotions of young love or, rather, lust.
The most comical line comes at the end of the first verse when Keem shouts like a father in an argument with his 16-year-old daughter: “I’M DONE! B---H, GO TO YOUR ROOM!”
Reminiscent of such lines that made him famous in hits like “ORANGE SODA” and “BUSS HER UP,” the line has perfect meme potential and already has fans making jokes.
But that’s a big part of Keem’s delivery: intense moments of tension broken up by his funny-sounding shouts and melodies. His music is a lot deeper than what his wild flows and child-like voice depict.
As Keem’s first release of the year, both the song and video are a perfect introduction to new listeners and a good reminder to his followers of what makes them love him so much.
With co-production and writing credits on Black Panther: The Album, The Lion King and two other Top Dawg Entertainment projects, Keem has already accomplished so much in such a short amount of time.
Having the label of “Kendrick’s cousin” would seem like a hard burden to bare for most, but with co-signs from stars like Drake, Keem has stood 10-toes down and established himself as a true artist who keeps his listeners anticipating his next move.
For more Baby Keem music, check out this Spotify Playlist:
