How Keke Palmer changed the game with her new album ‘Just Keke’

Lauren Keyana  ‘Keke’ Palmer is a well-known television and film personality, appearing on projects such as ‘True Jackson VP’, ‘Scream Queens’, ‘Nope’, ‘Hustlers’ and more. Along with this, Palmer has had an extensive music career, dating all the way back to 2006. This A-List celebrity has always had a delightful personality, and this has resulted in many internet memes of her surfacing and making huge waves on apps such as Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. 

Today, on Friday 20th June, she released her latest studio album, titled ‘Just Keke’. Now, you may see the title and feel slightly bewildered by my meaning. Well, what I mean by this is that Palmer has not released just an album, she has given us an experience. This album is the most different-sounding kind of project I have heard in a long time. I, too, was confused at seeing that the entire project, consisting of 18 songs, was only 28 minutes long. Usually albums of this many songs stretch close to an hour or longer. 

Upon hearing the first song, ‘ACT 1’, I realised it was time to strap into a show. This introduction felt cinematic, like a camp, boisterous version of RAYE’s ‘Introduction.’ on her debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’. Palmer’s bubbly personality and extravagant expressionism felt like this was not just a listening experience, it was a show. This is when I discovered that, as I have started to notice, Palmer released this as a visual album, with an accompanying ‘short film’ of the same length as her album. 

Now, visual albums are not a new thing at all. So you might be thinking, how has Keke Palmer ‘changed the game’ then? In my opinion, she has changed the game by forcing every single aspect of herself into this project. Her singing, her acting, her exuberant personality, and even her very own memes. This is not to say that other artists did not do an exceptional job with their releases, they felt just as cinematic and singular. However, Palmer reminds us consistently of why we love her, and brings us into her own reality in such an authentic, inviting and over-the-top manner that I was smiling for the entirety of the album.

She differs from other too, in that nearly half of the ‘songs’ are mere interludes of speech, where we get an insight into Palmer’s thoughts about her partner and reclaiming her identity. Whilst some may find this frustrating, adding to the fact that all of the songs are only around two minutes, Palmer soothes us with such slick and groovy R&B sounds. 

Personal favourites of mine on this project include ‘Off-Script’, ‘Amnesia’ and ‘Ripples’. Her boastful, cheeky and humorous side drew me to her as a person in the first place, so it was refreshing to see this side of her really shine in these songs specifically, but littered all over the album. However, Palmer delivers us some gut-wrenching slow jams about her break up with her boyfriend and father of her two-year-old. These tracks ground the album beautifully and allow Palmer to shine as an actor in the short film.

I urge everyone to listen and watch this project, as I am curious what its reception will be. In no regards do I believe it will be topping charts unfortunately, yet I commend Palmer for refusing to compromise and create a project that is so authentically her.