Baby Keem
Marathon Music Works; Nashville, TN
April 18, 2026
Review by Philip Obenschain
One of the most celebrated and creative hip hop fixtures of the decade, and an artist whose trajectory very much seems to be following in the footsteps of his legendary older cousin Kendrick, west coast rapper Baby Keem recently made a triumphant comeback with his sophomore studio album, Ca$ino; already a contender for the year’s best hip hop record. Released nearly five years after his frenetic debut, The Melodic Blue, Keem took a gamble in moving slow, largely retreating from performing, and spending an extended period of time crafting his latest (it’s almost unprecedented to see a young rapper spend half a decade on a followup after initially blowing up), and that seems to have paid off, both in artistic achievement and in building an almost mythical amount of hype, rather than losing steam. Embarking on his first headlining tour in years mere days ago, Keem recently headlined Marathon Music Works (he said on stage it was his first headliner in Nashville, but it seems like he played once before in 2022, as far we can can tell), for one of the most rowdy, electrifying, and impressive shows we’ve seen in a room this size in a long time. Read on for our review (and excuse the phone photos- we unfortunately weren’t allowed to bring a photographer for this one).
Though born and intermittently raised in California, Baby Keem predominately grew up in Vegas, and it’s the flair and aesthetic of Sin City that largely inspired Ca$ino, both in in concept and in its visual production. Arriving shortly before he was set to take the stage, about an hour after the posted start (these shows don’t have a full opener, just a DJ), the sold out room was beyond packed when I walked in, though, luckily, I was still able to get to a nice spot on the side. Keem belongs to a class of Gen Z rappers who grew up with Kanye as an ultimate influence in creative and visual direction, and though I find Kanye’s behavior and tirades in recent years indefensible (and his declining mental health quite sad), his earlier tours like Glow in the Dark, Yeezus, and Saint Pablo remain the gold standard in my mind for modern hip hop stage production, and I can still see that conceptual influence carrying forward in today, in shows such as this one. I only had a moment to admire the glowing, industrial, fallen casino awning and elevated bars and screens on stage, before Ca$ino opener “No Security” began to play as a musical intro, and Keem appeared at the top of the tower, dressed in an all-red jumpsuit, launching into title track “Ca$ino” as the crowd immediately went nuts.
Lyrically ambitious, conceptually thoughtful, and deliberate in how he presents himself, Keem is an elevated and multifaceted artist, but- despite having plenty of crossover appeal- he’s still very conventionally a rapper at his core. Not a pop artist, not a genre agnostic, not any of the things you might expect from looking at this crowd and stage- he’s simply a rapper who’s doing something at a level few of peers can touch, and an artist who very clearly put his absence to good creative use. I’ve never seen so many straight up mosh pits at a hip hop show, or such a thoroughly loud and locked in crowd, but the energy was unmatched all night and Keem stayed engaged and propulsive for the lean, barely over an hour crop of songs- literally all of Ca$ino, favorites from The Melodic Blue, and handful from breakout mixtape DIE FOR MY BITCH. After gracing us with a couple of high-energy songs from his tower above (the aforementioned “Ca$ino” and then “STATS”), the stage lights began to morph, his Vegas attire-clad backup dancer emerged (the only other person I ever saw on the stage), and Keem got right up to the crowd for “Good Flirts,” before bringing it down a notch with the mellow and hypnotic “I am not a Lyricist,” really flexing his flow.
I could tell a lot of thought went into the sequence of this setlist, which expertly ramped up and down, giving both the crowd and the MC a chance to recharge between wild bursts of jumping and singing along, and after the crowd participation of “booman,” it was time to dial it up again with “vent,” a song which never struck as so hard-hitting in recording, but that absolutely went hard live, with Keem chanting in the middle of strobe lights as the audience lost their voices shouting back at the top of their lungs. For a moment this felt more like a punk rock show, and it was such a trip to witness. Baby Keem didn’t leave it there though- he capitalized on the wave of excitement to deliver the technically impressive “Circus Circus Free$style” back on top of his tower, transitioning into the song that arguably first blew him up (and probably the first Keem song I remember hearing), “ORANGE SODA,” letting the crowd chant along to “lil’ bitch, shut the fuck up, tell your best friend, shut the fuck up” to prove who was a day one. After another more engaging run in the front of the stage- the singalong primed “trademark usa,” the poppier “lost souls,” and the fast flowing “House Money”- all of which showcased just how gifted a rapper Keem is, even without all of the production and spectacle, it was time for one of the more quiet and surprising moments of night, as the rapper sat on the side of the stage for an earnest delivery of “Highway 95 pt. 2,” which gave me a newfound appreciation for that track and left the crowd the most clam and quiet they were all show.
Keem eased out of the quiet contemplation with another of his more chill tracks, “HONEST,” before flexing his flow once again on “range brothers.” Just when I thought I’d seen all that his stage could do, it lit up in neon with screens and signage evocative of the Vegas Strip, for a call and response rendition of hypnotizing single “$ex Appeal” and complimentary poppy Ca$ino tune “Dramatic Girl.” After the calm and the technical and the poppy stretch, showcasing the breadth of Keem’s artistry, he ascended back to the top of the stage for the final stretch, bringing it back full circle with wild, turnt up energy, beginning with “MOSHIPIT” (I imagine it comes as no shock that this one resulted in yet another mosh pit), before finally hitting perhaps his most famous single (and most prominent Kendrick collab), “Family Ties,” with the singalongs nearly drowning out the rapper. “Birds & the Bees” felt like a nice bridge to the next song, “16,” which lands as one of the rapper’s most earnest, and was one he really delivered in concert with a ton of heart. If the show started as a wild party of a celebration, it ended as something of a more thoughtful contemplation, and I can’t think of anything that better sums up Keem’s artistic range.
After a brief musical montage of early home movies in tribute to his grandmother- who raised him for much of his youth, and who passed away last year- the rapper returned for a de-facto encore with Ca$ino closing track “No Blame.” Underneath the confidence, the showmanship, the artistic thoughtfulness, a real sense of gratitude and sincerity and self-reflection was pervasive all throughout the show, and with this album and this era of his career, it really feels like Baby Keem has truly found himself and his voice and his openness as a musician. I’ve been a casual fan since he first sprung onto the scene, but with this incredible record and with the really elevated experience of this show, he immediately seems like one of the new greats, and I feel really fortunate to have witnessed such a powerful performance in such a small space, before Keem inevitably graduates to the arenas he was born to headline.
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Setlist:
Ca$ino
STATS
Good Flirts
I am not a Lyricist
booman
vent
Circus Circus Free$tyle
ORANGE SODA
trademark usa
lost souls
House Money
Highway 95 pt.2
HONEST
range brothers
$ex Appeal
Dramatic Girl
MOSHPIT
family ties
Birds & the Bees
16
No Blame
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