What Is Baby Keem Longing for?

You hear it in his multiple flows. You see it on the album cover and in his music videos. The indie-rock inspired tunes. The samples.

So, what’s Baby Keem longing for? Why is there so much plaguing his mind? His trauma has shaped his surroundings and now he’s trying to navigate through it all while the spotlight is shining brighter than ever for the young star, but how is he juggling it all?

“You talk about it all the time/ I want to go there/ Inside your mind.”

“Scapegoats” is a spoken word offering that readies the listener for the journey they’re about to take. Rapping through themes of trauma, women and wealth, Keem flows through the pitched-up sample of Serpentwithfeets’ “Redemption” while the urgent and dooming soundscape echoes the contemplative theme underpinning the album.

“I knew since we got evicted out our roof/My new since rehab I was six tryna see you/How could I resent you/Demons can test you/Grandma and I missed you”

“Issues” addresses the longing for a relationship from his mom as a kid but due to circumstances out of his control, he was left wanting instead of having. Experiencing trauma at a young age informs your decisions moving forward and if not handled with care you run the risk of self-destruction. “Run away from home/Run away from home/When the nights gone/When the nights gone”. We’ve all had those thoughts before, as if running away from your external surroundings are going to solve some internal issues but what you’re running from always catches up to you. The repetitive snare and drowned-out piano keys, accompanied by the quick tempo serve as a reminder of the impending reality just waiting to be dealt with.

“Lost Souls” is an indictment on this generation’s reliance on technology and how it informs our decisions about people based solely on their social media. There’s a social prestige that comes with having a big following which Keem is trying to avoid.

“A whole group of dime bitches and they in vogue/I’m trying to find me a bitch that no one knows”.

We’ve lost a certain level of innocence because prestige trumps individuality nowadays which has resulted in a lack of authenticity. Our face-to-face interactions feel almost purely transactional as we’ve become more detached from reality but more reliant on technology.

“I ask God/Why this life you gave so hard/Why all the choices that I make tear us apart/I feel like everyone I meet confuse my heart”

“Scars” is a heart-wrenching tale of Keem wanting to make the right decisions but ending up hurting others instead. Over a rendition of Kanye’s “Love Lockdown”, you could hear the hurt in his voice as he longs to understand why people don’t understand him. When he doesn’t find answers in his faith, he does the only thing that makes sense to him, “I had to pack up my things when my mama was 'sleep/two kisses to the peace sign/that's when life was on the decline/two bus passes I'll be fine”. Being in a toxic environment is like being stuck in a continuous loop which ultimately ends up being a draining cycle. Sometimes removing yourself for the betterment of everyone involved is the only logical option.

The last track “16” is a genre-bending alt rock/rap song that details the fragile state of a relationship. Navigating through your own emotions is difficult enough at times but add in someone else’s and it could get messy. Self-awareness is a crucial part in making a relationship thrive but sometimes it’s too late, or too early, to understand the consequences of your actions.

“My mama mad at me/I know I fuck up big/My girl mad at me/I know I fucked up big/What's love/I guess I'll never understand/ Every time I say sorry/I do that shit again”.

How many times does it take before someone learns the consequences of their actions? There has to be a threshold that’s communicated so that the gravity of their mistakes is understood. If not, you’ll keep victim spiralling every time you’re at fault and the relationship, along with yourself, will suffer.