The standard version of the album features guest appearances by rappers Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver.

The deluxe edition of The Melodic Blue, released on October 28, 2022, features additional guest appearances from PinkPantheress and Lil Uzi Vert.

[16] Some of Kendrick Lamar's lyrics from the song "Range Brothers" were leaked a day before the album's release and went viral as memes for their seemingly unusual content.

[6] Before the album's release, Keem dropped the single "Family Ties", featuring Kendrick Lamar, which became a Grammy-winning hit.

[23] In April 2021, Keem teamed up with Travis Scott and released the single "Durag Activity", which became a chart hit and was planned to be on the album.

On September 22, the album was updated to include three bonus tracks: the already released singles "No Sense" and "Hooligan", and a reworked version of "Lost Souls" featuring vocals from Brent Faiyaz.

[26][27] Keem surprised fans with a deluxe edition of his album "The Melodic Blue" on October 28, 2022, more than a year after its original release date.

[31] To promote the album, Keem embarked on The Melodic Blue Tour, visiting cities across North America and Europe from November 2021 to July 2022.

[42] In a five-star review, Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian called The Melodic Blue the best rap album of 2021 and praised Keem's "gift for vocal melody that promises so much to come.

"[13] Luke Britton of NME called Keem a "rising star" who "shows his versatility and wide-ranging sound on confident, [sic] mostly self-produced project.

"[50] Tomas Miriti Pacheo of SPIN described the album as "charismatic and hilarious" at times, and praised Keem's production that was "often as bold as his lyrics."

He highlighted, however, that some of the production, most notably on "South Africa" and "Gorgeous" felt oversaturated and had Keem sounding "imitative at best and grating at worst.

"[49] In a lukewarm review, Dylan Green of Pitchfork wrote that while the album is more intimate than Keem's past work, containing reminiscence on his childhood such as trips to Popeyes in his Mom's coupe, it is by no means a confessional.

He considers it the album that moved Keem into the spotlight, and lauded his verse on "Family Ties", suggesting it was among the best tracks of his career as he confidently rapped "over horns and thudding 808s with a handful of flows".