The style of Baby Keem’s song “16” doesn’t feel like his signature style because I’ve heard his other songs, such as “STATS” and “lost souls” which are very creative and catchy tunes. This song is not creative or catchy in the slightest. 
The story is about a struggling relationship between him and a girl. He is the only one that knows of her tumultuous upbringing. She puts up a front and hides her difficult past; she acts in ways that he disapproves of. This song seems to be him telling her that she doesn’t have to hide and that she should stop pretending. The chorus moves into him asking her to “just grab my hand and look me in the eye,” and to not make any rash decisions, particularly about their relationship. The last part of the story is the narrator talking about his regrets about treating her wrong and about how his mother and girlfriend are mad at him.
I feel like this song is a good song to dance to at a party and to sing along to with your friends. I wouldn’t mind having it on in the background because Baby Keem has a nice voice and rhythm. With that said, this song doesn’t stand out lyrically or musically. Therefore, I decided to also discuss the music video which I felt could add more context and meaning to the song.
The music video helped emphasize Baby Keem’s point and display his emotions with visualizations. Near the beginning of the video, the words “how to be good in a world that’s not” are shown in parentheses which helps allude to the idea that this video is going to visually display this question. Baby Keem is portrayed in relationships with multiple women which seems to show that the same issues seem to persist throughout his different relationships. In the video, he and all the women seem to be struggling with not becoming toxic in relationships. The viewers see that there have been good moments with each woman but also very toxic, violent moments. This situation is relatable because so many people struggle in their romantic relationship or even other relations because they haven’t seen healthy models of it displayed in their life. This video illustrates young people simply trying to be “good” but struggling with the difficulty of ending the toxic cycle that they have lived in their whole life. 
I rate this song a 6/10. As I stated before, the song didn’t feel musically unique in any way. Although it didn’t particularly stick out to me, I do feel like the artist did bear a part of his soul to the listeners, especially through his music video. It felt like he kept the song itself short and simple because he wasn’t writing the song to entertain; he was simply just sharing a part of himself that he wanted people to know.
Work Cited
“Baby Keem.” Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/artist/5SXuuuRpukkTvsLuUknva1. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.
Baby Keem – 16. genius.com, https://genius.com/Baby-keem-16-lyrics. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.
Baby Keem – 16 (Official Video). www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB9IS9aqQvA. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.
https://hiphopdx.com, HipHopDX-. “Baby Keem Tells A Westworld-Inspired Love Story In ‘16’ Video.” HipHopDX, 24 Feb. 2022, https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.68326/title.baby-keem-tells-a-westworld-inspired-love-story-in-16-video.
Team, 24×7. “Watch: Baby Keem Releases Music Video For His Song ‘16.’” HipHop24x7 | Hip Hop News & Music, 24 Feb. 2022, https://hiphop24x7.com/videos/musicvideo/baby-keem-music-video-song-16/.
Great review! I really like Baby Keem and I know you’ve heard me blasting Stats and Lost Souls in my car when I get aux. 16 is a totally different vibe from those two because I feel Keem is being his most vulnerable here on this track. This is something most modern rappers I feel don’t do all that much. The song itself while not incredibly thought-provoking feels very real and matched with an angelic beat. I just really enjoy this song and I’m glad you found some redeeming qualities in the music video. I’ll find you a song from Keem that you will like 🙂
I definitely agree with you about this song. I do enjoy Baby Keem at parties, but this song sheds light on the romantic issues he has endured throughout his life (which can be seen with many other rapper…lol!) Anyways, I think you did a great job on this post and using the music video to back up your idea as well! Excited to see what is next week.
I think that this is a really good topic and I like your take on these songs. I really liked your writing style and I can’t wait to read more of your song reviews!
I totally agree with your reaction to “16”. Baby Keem definitely has some better songs and yeah, “16” is a pretty good background song, but it isn’t that striking. It feels like the beat and the lyrics don’t really line up in my opinion. I still listen all the time though haha, great blog!