JPEGMafia performs live on stage during Primavera Sound Festival at Distrito Anhembi on November 6, 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Photo by Mauricio Santana/Getty Images.
JPEGMAFIA Sends Nepotism Shade Towards Baby Keem on ‘Scaring the Hoes: DLC Pack’
On new EP Scaring the Hoes: DLC Pack, JPEGMAFIA shades Baby Keem on the final track, referencing the rapper’s co-sign from cousin Kendrick Lamar.
JPEGMAFIA calls out The Melodic Blue rapper Baby Keem on new EP Scaring the Hoes: DLC Pack with Danny Brown. A B-side to the duo’s collaborative project Scaring the Hoes, JPEG, also known as ‘Peggy,’ namechecks Keem on the EP’s final track, titled "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"
"When I was just 18, the judge put me on a list/B****, I ain't Baby Keem, my cousin ain't gave me s***," the 33-year-old opens the track. The line references Keem’s relation to Kendrick Lamar, his older cousin. Keem has multiple projects in the past, including his 2019 breakout Die for My Bitch, but signed to Lamar’s label pgLang in 2020, where he dropped The Melodic Blue the following year.
JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES: DLC PACKwww.youtube.com
NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!...www.youtube.com
Keem, born Hykeem Carter, and Lamar have extensively collaborated over the years, including the 22-year-old having writing and production credits on Beyoncé’s “Nile,” which featured Lamar. Keem was also featured on Lamar’s fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, which earned the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in March. The previous year, Keem won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance for his “Family Ties” collaboration with Lamar.
In 2020, the cousins were profiled for the 40th anniversary edition of i-D, were they interviewed each other. In the beginning portion of the interview, Keem claimed not to “know” about Lamar until the end of 2010, preferring artists like Eminem, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Rihanna.
“I didn’t know I wanted to make music till I was thirteen but it wasn’t, ‘Ah, I got it,” Keem said about his start. “I just knew I was gonna try it cuz everybody else tried it. My whole thing was to wait until my voice got deeper because I was a little kid.”
As JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown fans continue to analyze the Keem diss, the two will continue touring throughout the summer, with dates in Louisville, Cleveland, New York City, Atlanta, and more before ending in Dallas next month.
