"Range Brothers" (stylized in
all lowercase
Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...
) is a song by American rappers
Baby Keem
Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. (born October 22, 2000), known professionally as Baby Keem, is an American rapper and record producer. He initially gained major recognition following the release of his single "Orange Soda", from his second mixtape ''Di ...
and
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...
. The song was released on September 10, 2021 by
Columbia Records and
pgLang
PGLang (stylized as pgLang, an acronym for Program Language) is an American multi-disciplinary creative collective founded by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free. Launched on March 5, 2020, the collective houses a record label, a production company, a ...
as the fourth track off of the former's debut album, ''
The Melodic Blue
''The Melodic Blue'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer Baby Keem. It was released on September 10, 2021, by PGLang and Columbia Records, with Keem serving as the executive producer. The standard version of the al ...
''. "Range Brothers" made the ''
Billboard''
Hot 100 and
Hot R&B/Hip Hop songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
charts among others. The third portion of the song's chorus by Lamar trended on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and became viral as a meme.
Background
On September 8, 2021, two days before its official release, parts of the song were leaked.
Baby Keem and his cousin, Kendrick Lamar, address a variety of themes, including the financial prosperity that comes with fame, their difficult upbringings, sexual prowess, and betrayal.
Composition and lyrics
The fourth track off of Baby Keem's debut album, "Range Brothers" sees Keem reunite with his cousin Kendrick Lamar. The two real-life cousins sing about their difficult beginnings, how they were fortunate to be in the position they are in today, and the costs of fame. At one point, Lamar warns Keem about fame, saying "Every day, the hate restored and the faith get short." Keem responds with: "Fuck that, let me get some too!"
"Range Brothers" is divided into three parts, each lasting around 1.5 minutes. Changes in beats, cadences, and styles represent shifts in the song's sections. A ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review commented that "Punchy drums feel offbeat with pauses punctuated by Keem's staccato delivery, and intertwined vocal and string samples construct a grandiose stage."
A controversial part of the song is Lamar's repetitive verse at the end of the track, where he raps, "Let's get this shit/ Let's get this shit/ Let's get this shit, Let's." He then repeatedly rhymes, "Top o' the morning/ Top o' the morning/ Top o' the morning/ Top o' the morning/ Top o' the morning/ Top o' the morning." Keem appeared to respond to the controversy in a tweet, saying "me and dot
endrickcreated four new languages bro. rap was boring. so we start making new languages."
Reception
The song was polarizing to audiences, featuring strong orchestral
synths, but received generally favorable critic reviews, and was considered by some among the most complex and ambitious of all the tracks on ''
The Melodic Blue
''The Melodic Blue'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer Baby Keem. It was released on September 10, 2021, by PGLang and Columbia Records, with Keem serving as the executive producer. The standard version of the al ...
''. Kendrick Lamar's participation was noted by one critic as "bizarre and unconventional for a rapper of his status", but also potentially "innovating toward something new". His use of ad libs and repetitions of the phrases "Let's get this shit" and "top of the mornin became viral online and sparked
internet memes.
''Vulture'' called the song Kendrick's first main new attraction in years, saying "Range Brothers finds Lamar trading bars with Keem about all the money and girls he doesn't know what to do with, along with contributing some playful vocals in the song."
Charts
Certifications
References
{{Kendrick Lamar songs
2021 songs
Baby Keem songs
Kendrick Lamar songs
Songs written by 30 Roc
Songs written by Kendrick Lamar