BET Hip Hop Awards 2022: Baby Keem Is Nominated in 1 Category His Cousin Kendrick Lamar Has Never Been Up For
Rappers Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar have worked together a few times in the past, most notably on their hit collab “Family Ties.” The two cousins rarely make appearances together, despite both being talented artists in the music industry. They’re both up for several awards at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards, with Keem nominated in a category that Kendrick has never been nominated for.
Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar are cousins
Baby Keem has been making music since 2018, working as a producer for various artists before launching his own rap career. His highly-anticipated debut album The Melodic Blue arrived in September 2021.
Despite being Kendrick Lamar’s cousin, however, the breakout rapper rarely mentions his relation to Kung-Fu Kenny. He told Apple Music in June 2021 that their relationship “goes beyond music.”
“Whenever I need anything regarding, like, life, and if I need some wisdom, then that’s who I go to,” Keem said. “That’s one of the first people I look towards.”
Keem recounted how he and Kendrick reconnected as adults in a May 2021 episode of The Rap Pack.
“It was an unfortunate situation that happened in my family, and then I guess we kind of just connected through that,” he said.
“He didn’t really know [I was doing music] until later later,” Keem explained. “We just got cool on, like, that aspect first. On a regular aspect. He didn’t know I made music for a while. He was like, ‘What do you wanna do?’ I was just like, ‘I just wanna go to college bro.’ … I wasn’t even 100 percent sure I was even good at music.”
Baby Keem is nominated for Producer of the Year at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards
2022 marks the first year that Baby Keem is nominated for awards, and his record is pretty good so far. He and Kendrick’s collaboration “Family Ties” earned Keem his first Grammy Award in early 2022 for Best Rap Performance. The video for the song also won Video of the Year at the BET Awards in June.
Keem is nominated for six BET Hip Hop Awards in 2022, including three with Kendrick for “Family Ties.” But Keem is also up for the Producer of the Year award, along with the likes of Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, ATL Jacob, Hitmaka, and Metro Boomin. Lamar has never been nominated for a producer category at the BET Hip Hop Awards or any other awards show.
Kendrick Lamar’s BET Awards wins
Kendrick Lamar has been honored over two dozen times by BET at the BET Awards and BET Hip Hop Awards over the past decade. He won his first BET Awards back in 2013 for Best New Artist, Best Male Hip Hop Artist, and Best Collaboration for his song with A$AP Rocky, Drake, and 2 Chainz, “F***in’ Problems.” He won Best Male Hip Hop Artist three more times in 2014, 2017, and 2018. He has a total of seven BET Awards to his name.
When it comes to BET Hip Hop Awards, Lamar has even more awards to his name. In total, he’s won 19 BET Hip Hop Awards over the years. He’s won before in the categories of Lyricist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Hip Hop Video, Best Live Performer, and more.
