Baby Keem’s ‘Ca$ino’: All 11 Tracks Ranked

The casino can deliver the highest of euphoric highs and crippling lows within minutes of each other. Keem welcomes listeners with plenty to get off his chest on album opener “No Security.” Built around a sample of Natalie Bergman’s “You Can Have Me,” Keem feels the weight of the moment as he picks at the layers of a four-plus-year callous. What begins as a melancholic look into the past ultimately turns into a cathartic palette cleanser, clearing the way for Ca$ino‘s lift-off.

A sequel continuing the story of The Melodic Blue‘s “Highway 95.” Keem reflects on the pain his uncle Andre inflicted on his family. The turbulence of his childhood is a popular theme, each incision cutting deeper. He’s cruising down the highway with the top down, while every exit represents a different kind of trauma, whether that be going to sleep hungry, getting beatings or running away from home. The vocals fading on the outro are a nice touch.

Ca$ino was originally supposed to be named after Keem’s mother, but he decided to pivot and dedicate the album closer, “No Blame,” to uplift his mom and take decades of resentment off his back. Keem paints a vivid picture of his mother not coming home at night, smoking cigs in the house and popping pills while pregnant. He absolves her of the blame because of the trauma that came with her rough upbringing in Chicago.

Many fans asked where Keem has been, as it’s been over four years since his debut, but dealing with subject matter this dense and unpacking his life’s story, it’s understandable why Keem wanted to make sure he nailed it. 37 minutes and 11 tracks later, my perspective on Keem has changed drastically, and that’s all you can ask for from artists every album cycle.

Baby Keem lets the chopper sing with one punchy bar after another. Cinematic beat switches and Keem changing the tenor coloring his flows make “Circus Circus Freestyle” a Baby Keem featuring 2 Phone Baby Keem posse cut of sorts. An uncle selling your Xbox to fund a drug habit is enough to scar any kid for life. Keem powers through, but a vague admission to nearly facing death from taking a vaccine sent social media into a frenzy.

Too $hort was the perfect guest for the West Coast bounce injected into Ca$ino. He acts more as a hype man, before taking the baton and brushing off women looking for a piece of the Oakland rap legend. Keem overindulges on what life has to offer, while ruminating on his hedonistic escapades running through the 305.

First J. Cole, and now Kendrick follows suit with an interpolation of Common’s “The Light” — whoever had that bet should actually hit the casino. It’s a nice hat tip to one of rap’s most underrated discographies. Keem throws a curveball to fans, as the collaboration he was teasing with his rap legend second cousin would actually come on the next track. “Good Flirts” is a smooth yet seductive ride.

Lamar’s bars about Young Thug getting chatty from behind bars with Mariah the Scientist had social media riled up. Some believed it was a shot at Thug’s leaked jail calls, but it appears to be Kendrick actually empathizing with Thugger’s pillow talk. “Good Flirts” lands somewhere in the middle of the pack, like drawing a 17 against a dealer’s seven at the blackjack table.

As a sidenote, emerging R&B singer Sailorr picks up a co-writer credit.

“I Am Not a Lyricist” looks more like the name of a SoundCloud era track, looking to spark outrage and buck rap’s traditions. It’s actually some of Keem’s best rapping on the entire project. Over piano-driven production, the Las Vegas native peels back the layers on his trauma and family members falling prey to Sin City’s vices, making him who he is today, in a way that feels reminiscent of Eminem mixed with Three Stacks. The Citizen Cope refrain sounds right out of the Mac Miller playbook too.

Feist’s “Honey Honey” sample gives Ca$ino a mellow moment to breathe amid the high-strung chaos. Keem shrewdly turns romanticizing a love interest into an earworm of a chorus using a riddle rhyme scheme with the days of the week, which is sure to be echoing in your brain for weeks to come.

Keem turns to Cardo Got Wings’ menacing production and the sirens of a slot machine win that will get any casual gambler stimulated. The 25-year-old opens up about how stacking cash hasn’t healed the trauma of his past in ways he thought it would, and admits not having supportive parents around to brace the landing of life’s turmoils made his journey that much tougher. There’s a maturity here we haven’t heard in the past from Keem, as he wears his emotions on his sleeve. Take grieving the loss of his grandma, for example: “I think I cried a million times, I’m human f—ng sue me!”

While much of Ca$ino boasts a heaviness and deals with isolation, “Dramatic Girl” is a moment of joyous sunshine after a rainy day. With love on the brain, Keem embarks on a deep-sea expedition to unlock a woman’s heart, which takes a scoop of Steve Lacy’s bedroom pop into the equation, and delivers on a jackpot moment for the LP.

It’s not quite “MUSTARDDDD” but that noise you hear is everyone collectively shouting along to Kendrick’s “I smell something” from his gritty chorus. Five tracks in, Baby Keem setting his foundation as a dynamic producer before rapping is apparent — a la Kanye West — with another sinister beatmaking blockbuster display.

Keem’s turbulent upbringing only made him more apathetic and cold toward life’s obstacles. However, he forgives his mother and doesn’t hold any grudges against her for leaving him “at the stash house.” A strong performance from the “Family Ties” collaborators sets the gold standard for Ca$ino.