Review of Baby Keem's 'CA$INO'

The music is going crazy so far this year, guys. We are back yet again with another album review where we will dive into Baby Keem’s album "CA$INO" and discuss the emotions coming from this collection of music.

I will say this; this album is not for you to pre game with your friends. To be frank, I actually don’t know what this album is for outside of what seems to be the story of a dark childhood with many hardships. Some hardships were more on the extreme side as well.

Ca$ino is the second studio album of Baby Keem's career, following up 2021's 'The Melodic Blue'.

So with that being said, I personally do not know what would be considered the ‘right’ or ‘appropriate’ environment for listening to this album. This is not some regular "yeah, my mom didn’t have a lot of money" or a simple struggle meal was made here and there. This is some shit BET would’ve paid serious dollars for. When I tell you guys that Baby Keem was raw and vulnerable in what he revealed on this album... it’s really worth a listen, despite the grim story in some songs.

These songs being: "I am not a Lyricist", "No Blame" and "Highway 95 pt.2". It's a hard listen because he describes some painful memories, but the artistry that comes through with his expression of everything on the album is what really makes it worth noticing. He discusses family dying, being surrounded by consistent drug abuse during childhood and the experience of constant instability and foster homes. Ca$ino goes on to explain to us the struggles that led to now dealing with the vices that comes with success; in this case we’re talking sex, gambling and money.

Let's take a breather. Or a smoke. The emotional breaks in the album is honestly just sex-filled songs. We went from sitting here like "Damn. He went through that?’’ to grabbing a shot of Don Julio. We got "Good Flirts" with Kendrick Lamar which gives us a clever and fun upbeat song, despite it being about going back and forth with your ex. We’ve all been there right? Now we have a song to bop our head to about it.

Baby Keem has been regarded as Kendrick Lamar's protege for years now; no surprise Kendrick features on Keem's 'Ca$ino.'

This song is my favorite and I was a big fan of Kendrick Lamar’s feature as he tells us why he keeps entertaining a casual relationship. There’s references to the movie "Sinners", his original song "These Walls" from "To Pimp A Butterfly" and he makes a clever line referencing to Young Thug’s phone calls with Mariah The Scientist being released shortly after he was released from prison himself.

We also have "Sex Appeal" featuring Too $hort, which I bet you can guess what it’s about. If you ever need a confidence boost, this song might be for you! What’s a better dopamine boost than hearing Too $hort say his famous ad-lib, "bitch". Well maybe just about anything might be better than that honestly but the song is provocative and gets the people going and you can tell that was the intention. If that still isn’t enough sex talk for you, "Birds and the Bees" may satiate you. These songs help take a little bit of heaviness away from the album but just enough so that we can still feel and hear the tone that was set for this album as a whole.

I didn't know what to expect from Baby Keem when he originally announced Ca$ino, but I was definitely in shock and pleased to learn that this was a way to allow us to know him better and have a better understanding of how he grew up and was raised.

Now with everything that I mentioned; is this his best work lyrically and just audibly? Probably not.

We are still in the early stages of getting to know who Baby Keem is, and this album seems to be that breakthrough of just the beginning of the story. We are seeing a transition here. That transition isn’t clear; while yes, we know more about the artist and his upbringing; it doesn’t feel like we actually know his direction and his sound. When I say "actually know," I mean, do we truly have a solidified idea of what Baby Keem is doing?

"Ca$ino" brings us closer to his vision, but we’re assuming he has a clear one from this point on. Baby Keem has proved to us he’s capable or making a few catchy bangers here and there, but is he someone that can provide consistency? That’s something we are truly waiting on.

Rating: 6.3/10