Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. (born October 22, 2000), known professionally as Baby Keem, is an American rapper and record producer.[3][4] He initially gained major recognition following the release of his single "Orange Soda", from his second mixtape Die for My Bitch (2019). He would later collaborate with Kanye West on the song "Praise God", which reached the top 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified Platinum in April 2022.
Baby Keem | |
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Birth name | Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. |
Also known as |
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Born | (2000-10-22) October 22, 2000 (age 22) Carson, California, U.S.[1][2] |
Genres |
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Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 2017–present |
Labels |
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Website | keem themelodicblue |
His debut studio album The Melodic Blue, was released in September 2021 by pgLang and Columbia Records. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart. The single "Family Ties" with his cousin Kendrick Lamar became his second top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance. The album also included the songs "Durag Activity" alongside Travis Scott, and "Range Brothers" with Lamar.
Prior to beginning his rapping career, Hykeem spent his early life (as early as 4 years old) in music studios watching his Aunts & Uncles "burn" CD's using the famous platform LimeWire, which was the most common source of free music listening back in the early 2000's. Just a few years later, he shared his memories of hearing Kanye West's album "808s & Heartbreak" on the radio while living in Las Vegas during the Winter of 2008. This sparked his interest for music even more, which spurred his music research the following year. Keem looked up to artists such as Ye, Kid Cudi, Lil Wayne, Eminem, 50 Cent, along with others. [5]
Keem became a small, yet prominent YouTuber who was involved in the Minecraft Survival Games mini-game scene during the early 2010's. Keem's Minecraft account was under the in game name "hykeemc" and his YouTube account went by the alias "AllMightyModz".[6] Keem was known for being a highly skilled player on The Hive and MCGamer Network servers, amassing more than 1,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel because of his prowess. Keem would frequently hold Skype calls where his fans could play along with him.[7] Today, Keem's channel is inactive, however, the links on his channel direct you to Keem's current SoundCloud account.[8]
It wasn't until 2014 that Hykeem decided to start pursuing his own musical career. [9]
Keem has both songwriting and production credits on his cousin Kendrick Lamar's project, Black Panther: The Album, TDE member Jay Rock's Redemption, Schoolboy Q's Crash Talk, and the song "Nile" from Disney's The Lion King: The Gift.[10] Keem worked with record producer Cardo, on his two mixtapes, The Sound of a Bad Habit (2018) and Die for My Bitch (2019).
In March 2020, Keem was featured in the visual mission statement for Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free's company, pgLang.[11] In August 2020, it was revealed Baby Keem was included on XXL's 2020 Freshman Class.[12]
On September 18, 2020, Keem returned with the release of two new songs, "Hooligan", and "Sons & Critics Freestyle".[13] He then released "No Sense", on March 5, 2021.[14] On April 30, Keem released "Durag Activity" with Travis Scott.[15] The song was followed by another collaboration with Keem's cousin Kendrick Lamar, titled "Family Ties", which was released on August 27, 2021.[16] These songs are featured on Keem's debut studio album The Melodic Blue, which was released on September 10, 2021.[17][18] The album also included the single "Issues", which Keem performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a collaboration with Don Toliver titled "Cocoa", as well as previously teased tracks "Vent" and "Range Brothers".[19] Keem also made an appearance on Kanye West's tenth studio album Donda, on the song "Praise God", alongside Travis Scott.[20]
On April 3, 2022, Keem won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance for "Family Ties", along with Kendrick Lamar.[21]
In a 2019 interview, Keem cited American musician Kid Cudi, as a major influence: "I was inspired by Cudi's cadences and shit like that. Kid Cudi's one of my favorite artists."[22]
In a 2021 interview with Billboard, Keem reportedly identified as part of the Mike WiLL Made-It and Metro Boomin generation, saying he derives inspiration from the two producers, as well as from Kanye West.[23]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||
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US [24] |
AUS [25] |
CAN [26] |
NOR [27] |
NZ [28] |
SWE [29] |
UK [30] | |||
The Melodic Blue |
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5 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 59 | 49 |
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Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
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US [33] | ||
The Sound of Bad Habit |
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— |
Die for My Bitch |
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196 |
Title | Details |
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Oct (as Hykeem Carter) |
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Midnight (as Hykeem Carter) |
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No Name (as Hykeem Carter) |
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Hearts & Darts |
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Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [36] |
AUS [37] |
CAN [38] |
IRE [39] |
NZ [40] |
UK [41] | ||||||||
"Invented It" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Die for My Bitch | |||||
"France Freestyle" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
"Orange Soda" | 98 | — | 100 | — | — | — |
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"Hooligan" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Melodic Blue | |||||
"Sons & Critics Freestyle" | — | — | — | — | — | — | non-album singles | ||||||
"No Sense" | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Melodic Blue | |||||
"Durag Activity" (with Travis Scott) |
85 | — | 53 | 74 | — | 96 |
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"Family Ties" (with Kendrick Lamar) |
18 | 44 | 19 | 32 | 29 | 52 |
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"Issues"[19] | —[upper-alpha 1] | — | — | — | —[upper-alpha 2] | — | |||||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [44] |
US R&B [45] |
US Rap [46] |
AUS [47] |
CAN [48] |
IRE [39] |
NZ Hot [43] | ||||
"Honest" | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | 81 [49] | — | Die for My Bitch | |
"Praise God" (Kanye West featuring Travis Scott and Baby Keem) |
2021 | 20 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 17 | — | — |
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Donda |
"Trademark USA" | —[upper-alpha 3] | — | — | — | — | — | 25 |
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The Melodic Blue | |
"Range Brothers" (with Kendrick Lamar) |
53 | 23 | 20 | — | 61 | 93 | 11 |
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"Cocoa" (featuring Don Toliver) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | |||
"Lost Souls" (featuring Brent Faiyaz) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | 24 |
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"16" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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"Bank Account" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert) |
2022 | —[upper-alpha 4] | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album |
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"Praise God"[51] | 2021 | Kanye West, Travis Scott | Donda |
"Outerspace" | Don Toliver | Life of a Don | |
"We Did It Kid" | 2022 | Kanye West, Migos | Donda 2 |
"Savior" | Kendrick Lamar, Sam Dew | Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers |
Year | Title | Director(s) | Artist(s) |
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2018 | "Baby Keem" | N/A[52] | Baby Keem |
"Miss Charlotte" | N/A[53] | ||
2019 | "Gang Activities" | Shia LaBeouf[54] | |
"Invented It" | Neal Farmer[55] | ||
"Honest" | James R. Weneta[56] | ||
"Orange Soda" | Dave Free[57] | ||
"Moshpit" | Jack Begert[58] | ||
2020 | "Hooligan" | Jake Schreier[59] | |
2021 | "No Sense" | Savannah Setten[60] | |
"Durag Activity" | Eliel Ford[61] | Baby Keem and Travis Scott | |
"Family Ties" | Dave Free[62] | Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar | |
"The Melodic Blue (Album Trailer)" | Dave Free[63] | Baby Keem | |
"Issues" | Jake Schreier[64] | ||
"First Order of Business" | Dave Free[65] |
Various artists - Black Panther: The Album
Various artists - The Lion King: The Gift
Offset - BLAME IT ON SET
Grammy Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | Himself | Best New Artist | Nominated | [73] |
Donda (as featured artist) | Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
"Family Ties" | Best Rap Performance | Won | ||
Best Rap Song | Nominated |
BET Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | "Family Ties" | Video of the Year | Won | [74] |
Best Collaboration | Nominated | |||
Himself | Best New Artist | Nominated |
Billboard Music Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | "Praise God" | Top Gospel Song | Nominated | [75] |
"Praise God" | Top Christian Song | Nominated |
NME Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | "Family Ties" | Best Collaboration | Nominated | [76] |
XXL Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
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2022 | "Family Ties" | Song of the Year | Nominated | [77] |
Video of the Year | Nominated |
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Studio albums |
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Singles | |
Other songs | |
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General |
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Other |
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