Kendrick Lamar has declared fellow Californian rapper, songwriter and record producer Baby Keem – who is also Lamar’s cousin – to be a “musical genius”.Being relatives, Lamar and Keem have worked closely together since the latter started his career in the mid-2010s.
One of Keem’s earliest credits was a nod for production on ‘Redemption Interlude’, a track on Lamar’s 2018 soundtrack for Black Panther.
March 2020 then saw Keem sign to Lamar’s company/label, pgLang, and the following August, their first collaborative single came in the form of ‘Family Ties’.That song, as well as another joint track titled ‘Range Brothers’ – and ‘Vent’, which featured an uncredited guest spot from Lamar – appeared on Keem’s pgLang-issued debut album, ‘The Melodic Blue’ (which NME called one of the best debut albums of 2021).The NME 100 member linked back up with Lamar for three songs on his own latest album, ‘Mr.
Morale & The Big Steppers’, co-writing and -producing ‘N95’, co-producing the Blxst and Amanda Reifer-assisted ‘Die Hard’, and guesting on ‘Saviour’ alongside Sam Dew.The cousins have also appeared together onstage a handful of times over the past couple of years, including spots at this year’s Coachella and Glastonbury festivals.
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