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Baby Keem is back. Riding the high of his recently released debut album, The Melodic Blue, the rapper performed a fiery rendition of “family ties” on the BET Hip Hop Awards stage on Monday. Now, it seems Keem might have even more new, “very personal” music on the way.

In a BET Red Carpet interview with Complex News, Keem first discussed his excitement over The Melodic Blue’s long-time coming release. “It’s been a long process working on this for 2, 2-3 years now even,” Keem said. “It feels like I just had a baby damn near.”

Keem Gets Personal

But even in his new-baby bliss, Keem said he’s ready to get back in the studio soon. “Right now I’m on a little mental break,” he said in another interview with Seleah Simone. “But we going back in, we going to work on some new sh*t very soon.”

Keem hinted that future music will dive further into his “personal, humble beginnings.” When asked which tracks off The Melodic Blue are most special to him, Keem shouted out two of the rawest, most emotional tracks, “issues” and “scars.”

“That’s kind of where I want to go in my career, really share myself to the world,” he told Complex. “I got a little personal on those two songs about my mother and other things like that. It’s just progressing and telling my story a little bit more than I have been.”

Star on the Rise

Though Keem didn’t mention who the “we” in the studio might be, he has already racked up his fair share of big-name collaborators. The Melodic Blue had features from Travis Scott on “durag activity”, Don Toliver on “cocoa” and, perhaps Keem’s closest collaborator and cousin, Kendrick Lamar, featured on two tracks, “family ties,” and “range brothers.” The pair released a wild, experimental video for the track, “family ties,” in August, featuring an appearance from Normani. The video now has over 21 million views on Youtube. Though Keem and Kendrick’s music differs in style, they share those “humble beginnings” Keem speaks of and use their musical gifts to tell that story.

Whatever comes next, the 20-year-old Baby Keem shows no signs of slowing down. What would you like to see off of his next project? Let us know by interacting with us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Written by Hattie Lindert | Twitter | Instagram

Blxst has become the artist to watch as one of the biggest nights in hip hop culture is upon us. The BET Hip Hop Awards will air on October 5, 2021 and nominees have been announced. The “Best New Hip Hop Artist” award marks an establishing moment for any new artist and on Saturday, the L.A. newcomer received a nomination. These days, The West Coast rap scene is raving about newcomer Blxst and the drive and focus the rapper personifies.

Matthew Burdette adopted the name Blxst (pronounced “blast”), ” just trying to be cool with my friends,” he said. After graduating high school, he began rapping and producing. He released his first single “Who Would’ve Thought” independently in 2016. Blxst mixes melodies and harder bars, rounding out the harshness associated with rap and distinguishing his style from other artists. In 2019, single “Hurt”, placed him on the charts. It also gained him interest from the industry, leading to a record deal with Red Bull Records in 2020.

Following the deal, the artist released his first solo EP, “No Love Lost”, where hits like “Wrong or Right” and “Overrated” prove the young rapper is definitely up next. Blxst has not taken his foot off the project pedal, released “Sixtape 2″ alongside Bino Rideaux this past July. Blxst, a skateboarder-turned-rapper, ignites passion in his fans and embodies the resilience that he sings and raps about. Forever humble is the motto he lives by.

Voting for the 2021 “BET HIP HOP AWARDS” DJ of the Year and Best Hip Hop Platform is now open: https://www.votehiphopawards.com

Who do you think should win the Best New Hip Hop Artist award? Sound off to us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook: @FMHipHop.

Written by Antoinette Ford