Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
Baby Keem’s “Ca$ino” album tour made a stop at Oakland’s Fox Theater on Monday night, transforming the historic venue into a spectacle that was equal parts theatrical, chaotic and moving.
Even before Keem himself appeared, the crowd already seemed fully immersed in his world. Scott Bridgeway, a Grammy award-winning producer, DJ’d an opening set that leaned heavily into hip-hop, moving through tracks by Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Kid Cudi and XXXTentacion. The one major exception came with Chief Keef’s explosive “Faneto,” which unexpectedly transitioned into fun.’s anthemic “We Are Young,” a shift that probably should not have worked as well as it did. Still, the crowd stayed with it, screaming lyrics back regardless of genre. By the time Baby Keem appeared, the energy inside the theater already felt restless.
Once he did, the Fox Theater transformed into the universe of “Ca$ino.” The stage resembled a cratered moon surface, anchored by a glowing marquee-style sign whose text continuously shifted throughout the night. A showgirl-inspired backup performer appeared periodically during the set with feathers and sequins, subtly reinforcing the album’s casino and Vegas-inspired aesthetic without overwhelming the performance itself.
Keem opened with “Ca$ino” and “STATS,” immediately establishing the night’s upbeat pacing before moving into tracks like “booman,” “vent” and “Circus Circus Free$tyle.” Nearly half the setlist came from “Ca$ino”; though the album is still relatively new, the audience treated much of the material with the familiarity usually reserved for older songs. Fans anticipated beat drops seconds before they happened and shouted nearly every lyric back toward the stage.
Midway through the set, the performance gradually shifted into older fan favorites. During “ORANGE SODA,” the lighting and visuals turned fully orange, a direct nod to the breakout single that first pushed Keem toward mainstream attention. Songs like “trademark usa,” “HONEST” and “range brothers” kept the theater loud, but the emotional center of the night ultimately came from Keem’s 2021 album “The Melodic Blue,” which earned seven songs on the setlist.
The loudest anticipation of the evening came before “family ties.” Rather than simply starting the song, Keem spent nearly three minutes pacing the stage and building tension with the audience, repeatedly asking, “Do you know what the f— is about to happen, Oakland?” while different sides of the theater competed to outcheer one another. By the time the beat finally dropped, the release felt almost collective. But the concert’s strongest moment was yet to come.
After the chaos of “MOSHPIT” and “family ties,” the set took a noticeably more reflective direction with “Birds & the Bees” before transitioning into “16.” Instead of immediately rushing into the song, Keem let the extended instrumental introduction breathe, allowing the strings and orchestral elements underneath the production to fully fill Fox Theater. The result felt cinematic in a way I had not entirely expected. I had waited to hear “16,” Keem’s melancholic reflection on a failing relationship, almost the entire night — partly because of how much time I have spent listening to it over the past few years, but also because I was curious how its emotional weight would translate live.
Somehow, the live version felt even heavier. As the intro continued to build, the theater briefly lost some of the chaos that had defined much of the earlier set. People still sang along, but there was also a noticeable shift in attention toward the stage and artistry. Even now, I am not entirely sure what expectations I had for hearing “16” live, only that they were exceeded. The extended intro and atmosphere made the song feel fuller, more poignant than the recorded version already does. For a few minutes, it no longer felt like one of the louder moments of the night, but instead one of the most immersive.
If the concert had one notable drawback, it was the lighting. Even relatively close to the stage, there were moments where Baby Keem became difficult to see. Despite the overall strength of the production, at times the shadow-heavy performance felt visually distant. A more direct spotlight could have emphasized some of the emotion already present in the music.
That emotional momentum carried into “No Blame,” which included a tribute to a maternal figure in Keem’s life. Then he thanked the Oakland crowd one final time and exited the stage. It was a noticeably quieter ending than many rap performances aim for, but it fit an artist whose music constantly shifts between intensity, detachment and vulnerability. Perhaps “Ca$ino” will never fully reach the commercial or critical heights of “The Melodic Blue.” But inside the Fox Theater on Monday night, that hardly seemed important. The California native has cultivated a fanbase that already feels deeply invested in his artistic world. Judging by Oakland’s reaction, that connection does not appear to be fading anytime soon.