Baby Keem (Hykeem Carter, born 2000 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American rapper, singer, and producer signed to pgLang and Columbia — and Kendrick Lamar's cousin. His debut The Melodic Blue (2021) is the place to start, with family ties taking home the Grammy for Best Rap Performance. Shop Baby Keem vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Hykeem Carter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 22, 2000 and raised partly in Carson, California. He began releasing music online in 2017 and gained wider attention with his 2018 mixtape The Sound of Bad Habit and 2019 mixtape Die for My Bitch. He is a cousin of Kendrick Lamar and signed to Lamar and Dave Free's pgLang in 2020. His debut studio album The Melodic Blue was released through pgLang/Columbia in September 2021.
Baby Keem's sound combines hip hop with experimental production, trap influences, and pop sensibility. His work is known for unusual song structures, abrupt beat switches, and theatrical vocal delivery. Frequent collaborators include Kendrick Lamar, Cardo, Outtatown, and producers within the pgLang orbit.
pgLang/Columbia pressings of The Melodic Blue have appeared in multiple color variants, including retailer-exclusive editions.
Listeners new to Baby Keem typically start with The Melodic Blue (2021), particularly the singles family ties (with Kendrick Lamar) and orange soda.
