2025 was a huge year for Kendrick Lamar, and according to DJ Akademiks, 2026 is shaping up to be no different. The internet personality brought up the Compton rapper during a recent livestream, theorizing that he has something new on the way. "If he drops this year, which I'm under good authority to [...] speculate," he said, as captured by Kurrco, "That he has some things up his sleeve, and not just being on Baby Keem's album."
For now, it remains unclear exactly what Kendrick has in the works, or when fans can expect to hear it. Rumors about what could be next for him have been rampant for a while now, however, and picked up shortly after the 68th annual Grammys earlier this month.
That's because the "squabble up" performer wore a boxing wrap on his right hand during the awards show, which Dave Free later shared a close-up of on Instagram. This led many to suspect that he was teasing his next musical era, though this is unconfirmed. Kendrick took home five awards at the 2026 Grammys, including Record of the Year, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, and more.
Is Kendrick Lamar On Baby Keem's New Album?
As for his appearance on Baby Keem's next project, Ca$ino, that was confirmed last week. The project will follow the 25-year-old's debut studio album, The Melodic Blue, which he dropped in 2021. Upon announcing the LP, Keem unveiled the tracklist, complete with several exciting features. Fans can expect appearances from Too Short and Che Ecru on "Sex Appeal" and "Tubi," respectively. They can also expect to hear Kendrick Lamar and Momo Boyd on "Good Flirts."
Unsurprisingly, the latter is one of the most anticipated tracks of the entire album. Luckily, Keem decided to give listeners a taste of what's to come by including a snippet of the collab in his Ca$ino documentary, which is about the making of the album.
Ca$ino is slated for release tomorrow (February 20).
