Baby Keem Reveals Eminem, Kanye West, Lil Uzi Vert And XTentacion Inspired His Music.
Baby Keem recently opened up about the artists who helped shape his music career, and the list includes some of hip-hop’s biggest names.
During a new interview with Elsie not Elisee, Keem reflected on his early days as an artist and explained how he studied different rappers while developing his own sound. According to him, Eminem, Kanye West, and Lil Uzi Vert were among his biggest influences when he first started taking rap seriously.
The Perfect Playlist With Baby Keem is OUT NOW 🎬
We go in depth on his new album CA$INO, our favorite songs from his discography, his process and his ambitions as an artist. Link Below 👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/fn2TzQpJrW
— Elsie not Elise 💿 (@ElsienotElisee) June 10, 2026
Keem explained that he originally focused on becoming a strong lyricist before developing the unique style fans know today.
“My biggest influences when I was studying to rap was Eminem, Kanye West and Lil Uzi Vert,” he said. “When I first started I was like, ‘I need to be super lyrical.’ That’s why I practiced lyricalness.”
Baby Keem speaks on early influences and says the “Baby Keem flow” was actually him learning how to rap:
“‘family ties’ I had to like learn how to do. ‘STATS’ and that flow that everybody kinda stole…that was me learning how to rap…
Eminem, Kanye, Lil Uzi, and then… pic.twitter.com/YL63BWc9tI
— Joey (@gothamhiphop) June 10, 2026
The rapper also shared more details about how his sound evolved over time. While discussing songs like “family ties” and “STATS,” Keem revealed that many fans were hearing him learn and grow as an artist in real time.
“‘Family Ties’ I had to learn how to do. ‘STATS’ and that flow that everybody kinda stole… that was me learning how to rap,” he explained.
Baby Keem talked about how he had to go to therapy in order to be able to talk about the things he talked about on his new album ⤵️
I had to go to therapy to be able to talk about those things openly.
That’s the whole point of being a musician to me, it’s being vulnerable.
— Jah Talks Music (@JahTalksMusic) June 10, 2026
Keem also gave flowers to the late XTentacion, saying the Florida artist had a major impact on his creativity and artistic direction.
According to Keem, XTentacion became something of a “North Star” for him during the making of his breakout project Die For My Bit*h. The rapper admired X’s willingness to experiment with different sounds and emotions, something that can also be heard throughout Keem’s own music.
Fans online quickly reacted to the interview, with many saying Keem’s list of influences makes perfect sense. Eminem’s lyricism, Kanye’s creativity, Lil Uzi Vert’s energy, and X’s versatility can all be heard in different parts of Keem’s catalog.
Baby Keem lists Ye as one of his biggest influences in becoming a rapper and credits the Donda sessions for helping him with his writing style on his new album CA$INO.
“We would have counsel meetings about lines and that kind of changed my perspective on this whole thing.”
(Via… pic.twitter.com/3SJ93q9bt5
— yzyupdates (@yzyupdates) June 10, 2026
