The Melodic Blue is the debutstudio album by American rapper and record producerBaby Keem. It was released on September 10, 2021, byPGLang andColumbia Records, with Keem serving as theexecutive producer. The standard version of the album features guest appearances by rappersKendrick Lamar,Travis Scott, andDon Toliver. An updated version, released on September 22, features an additional guest appearance from singerBrent Faiyaz. The deluxe edition ofThe Melodic Blue, released on October 28, 2022, features additional guest appearances fromPinkPantheress andLil Uzi Vert.
The Melodic Blue was supported by four singles, including "Durag Activity" with Scott and "Family Ties" with Lamar. "Durag Activity" peaked at number 85 on theBillboard Hot 100. "Family Ties" peaked at number 18 on the Hot 100 and won theGrammy Award for Best Rap Performance, marking Keem's first Grammy Award. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, one of whom called it the album that ushered Keem into the spotlight. It debuted at number five on theBillboard 200, earning 53,000 totalalbum-equivalent units in its first week. Itcharted internationally in more than a dozen countries. In 2023, the album was certified platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America.
The Melodic Blue is Keem's firststudio album. Prior to the release, Keem had threemixtapes, a collaboration withKanye West, and a myriad of production and songwriting credits. When asked how his producer background factored into his work, Keem said "I feel like producer artists are like the best artists, just because you just know what you want. You see a vision. You're able to execute a vision from start to finish — unwavered. That's probably the best thing I've ever learned, how to make beats."[5] Keem shared that his inspiration largely comes fromMike Will Made It,Metro Boomin, and Kanye West, and said about West, "That’s one person I’ll never say anything ill about. He’s a legend. [Without Kanye] I wouldn’t even be sitting here, I wouldn’t have had the inspiration for this project." Keem considers West one of the few rappers who still pushes the envelope on what music can be.[6] He also incorporated styles made popular byBrent Faiyaz andSZA. Keem was influenced byrhythm and blues songs of the 90s which can be seen in hisdrum patterns and emotional vocal performances.[7] The album shows a progression in Keem's musical style where he explores newmelodies andthemes, showing a new side of Keem in bass production and piano additions.[8]
On October 19, 2020, Baby Keem first teased the title of the album by adding its name and some of the tracks onto ahoodie, but confirmed the project's title on April 30, 2021.[9] On August 31, 2021, Keem stated that he finished the album and said that it "has my best production / compositional work".[10] Two days later, he confirmed that it would be released that month. On September 6, 2021,Labor Day, Keem confirmed the release date and revealed thecover art.[11] Two days later, he revealed the tracklist.[12]
The album is the first time Keem has had someone else featured in his songs, working alongsideKendrick Lamar andTravis Scott, the latter of whom Keem said was "really easy to work with".[8][5]
Before the album's release, Keem revealed that Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar and would be featured on the project.[10] The production ofThe Melodic Blue is characterized by washed-outsynths, boomingbass, and distortedbeats.[13] It is noted for featuring the first three collaborations between Keem and his cousin Kendrick Lamar, who plays the role of Keem's elder brother in the tracks he features on.[14] They also marked the first new songs from Lamar since the release ofBlack Panther: The Album (2018),[15] which Keem assisted with in production and songwriting.[16] Some of Kendrick Lamar's lyrics from the song "Range Brothers" were leaked a day before the album's release and went viral asmemes for their seemingly unusual content.[17][18][19] Keem subsequently claimed that he and Lamar created four new languages together while recording the album.[19][20] Keem was the main producer for the album.[16]MixedByAli, a sound engineer for the album, said Keem "produces the majority of all his records — he's super involved in every aspect of it."[21] In an interview withBillboard, Keem said he took his time and was very careful recording the vocals for the album.[6]
Before the album's release, Keem dropped the single "Family Ties", featuring Kendrick Lamar, which became a Grammy-winning hit.[22] The song was praised for its trumpet intro and intense back-and-forth between Keem and Lamar, creating excitement for the rest of the album.[23] In April 2021, Keem teamed up with Travis Scott and released the single "Durag Activity", which became a chart hit and was planned to be on the album.[24][25]
The Melodic Blue was initially released in September 2021 and consisted of 16 tracks. On September 22, the album was updated to include three bonus tracks: the already released singles "No Sense" and "Hooligan", and a reworked version of "Lost Souls" featuring vocals from Brent Faiyaz.[26][27]
Keem surprised fans with a deluxe edition of his album "The Melodic Blue" on October 28, 2022, more than a year after its original release date.[28][29] The deluxe edition contained seven new songs, bringing the total number of tracks on the album to 23.[30][23] In his song "Highway 95" from the deluxe version, Baby Keem incorporates a sample from the hitFugees record "Killing Me Softly With His Song". On Twitter, Keem thankedLauryn Hill, who was a member of the Fugees and holds the rights to the original composition.[31]
To promote the album, Keem embarked on The Melodic Blue Tour, visiting cities acrossNorth America andEurope from November 2021 to July 2022.[32][33][34] Keem also performed at major festivals such asRolling Loud, Day 'N' Vegas, andCoachella.[33][23] He had his first television appearance when he promoted the album onJimmy Kimmel Live!.[8]
In 2023, in partnership with MGM Studios and Amazon, pgLang released the short film "The Melodic Blue: Baby Keem" on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video. The movie features Hykeem's character internal struggles with sex addiction and Amandla Stenberg as his girlfriend. The film was Executive Produced by Hykeem, his cousin Kendrick Lamar and Lamar's friend Dave Free. The film has unreleased song snippets of "Rock Me" and "Torch" by Hykeem.[35]
The album debuted at number five on the USBillboard 200, selling 53,000 copies in its first week.The Melodic Blue saw 70.1 million on-demand streams in its first week, making it the second-most streamed album of that week, only behindDrake'sCertified Lover Boy. By the second week, the album had 305.4 million on-demand streams.[36] His single "Family Ties" peaked at number 18 on theBillboard Hot 100 and received theGrammy Award for Best Rap Performance, his first Grammy.[37]
The Melodic Blue received generally positive reviews from music critics.[1][13] AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received anaverage score of 77 based on eleven reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[43]
In a five-star review, Ben Beaumont-Thomas ofThe Guardian calledThe Melodic Blue the best rap album of 2021 and praised Keem's "gift for vocal melody that promises so much to come."[46] Will Dukes ofRolling Stone found Baby Keem to be "sharp, focused and easy to like."[13] Luke Britton ofNME called Keem a "rising star" who "shows his versatility and wide-ranging sound on confident, [sic] mostly self-produced project."[51] Tomas Miriti Pacheo ofSPIN described the album as "charismatic and hilarious" at times, and praised Keem's production that was "often as bold as his lyrics." He highlighted, however, that some of the production, most notably on "South Africa" and "Gorgeous" felt oversaturated and had Keem sounding "imitative at best and grating at worst."[50]
In a lukewarm review, Dylan Green ofPitchfork wrote that while the album is more intimate than Keem's past work, containing reminiscence on his childhood such as trips toPopeyes in his Mom'scoupe, it is by no means a confessional. He went on to say that Keem "uses the opportunity to expand his well-established fascination with trap and melody to feature-length—with mixed results." He considers it the album that moved Keem into the spotlight, and lauded his verse on "Family Ties", suggesting it was among the best tracks of his career as he confidently rapped "over horns and thudding808s with a handful of flows".[52]
Complex rankedThe Melodic Blue as the 13th best album of 2021, calling it one of the most ambitious and risky projects that has come out in years. They stated that it is "overflowing with ideas. If you don't like what you hear at any given moment, just wait a few seconds and the beat will switch or Keem will try a new flow."[53]
"Pink Panties" contain samples from "Fuck..... Instagram", written by Michee Lebrun, as performed by Che Ecru.
"Scapegoats" contains an uncredited sample from "Redemption", written byJosiah Wise, as performed bySerpentwithfeet; and uncredited samples from "Unlucky", written byKan Wakan and Lindsay Olsen, as performed by Wakan.
"Lost Souls contain uncredited samples from "Sex A Pill", written by Michee Lebrun, as performed by Che Ecru.
"Cocoa" contains an uncredited sample from "Didn't We", written byJimmy Webb, as performed byIrene Reid.
^Diaz, Eric Skelton, Jessica Mckinney, Andre Gee, Waiss Aramesh, Jordan Rose, Trey Alston, Will Schube, Angel."The Best Albums of 2021".Complex.Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. RetrievedMay 25, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Green, Dylan (September 15, 2021)."Baby Keem: The Melodic Blue".Pitchfork.Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 28, 2021.
