During a Chicago show, Drake brought Keef out as a special guest to a rapturous crowd response. Kanye West included a remix on G.O.O.D Music’s Cruel Summer compilation. With drums that rattle speakers and off-key apocalyptic horns, there’s little one can do but stop and take notice.Ĭombine that with Keef’s obnoxious enthusiasm and a particularly focused verse by friend and GBE associate Lil Reese, it’s only natural that this smash hit would widen the scope of Keef’s reach. It would be insincere to argue any other single from 2012 mixtape Back From The Dead mixtape could ever compare to the heights o f“Don’t Like.” By this point, Keef had switched up from the lean, driving sounds of DJ Kenn to the bombastic and muscular sounds of childhood friend turned beatmaker Young Chop. Lil Reese)"Ī record so powerful even those who weren’t rapping (RIP Fredo Santana) became stars overnight. In merely a few years, Keef had begun to find his stylistic voice, all while developing his skills into a potent rapper unfortunately, he had also become a lightning rod for trouble, landing himself on house arrest for various legal issues.Īnd to think, Keef was still well beyond achieving his greatest heights both commercially and critically rapper, yet was already garnering national interest from established artists like Lil B and Waka Flocka already expressing eagerness to collaborate. From the trademark staccato adlibs, Keef’s gravelly droning voice, the violent bars, Kenn’s endless surging vamp of menacing strings and erratic drums, and the equally chaotic DGainz video. In many ways, “Bang” remains the quintessential selection of the “Drill Sosa” era.
![chief keef dedication soundcloud chief keef dedication soundcloud](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f6/5f/a8/f65fa83e1b8029054d416fea2ff1c443.png)
![chief keef dedication soundcloud chief keef dedication soundcloud](https://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2017/12/King-Los-Goat-Tape-Cover-Full.jpeg)
However, it’d be the next year in which Keef’s career truly began to blossom. By 2010, Keef had already met collaborator DJ Kenn, and was putting out mixtape material with surprising regularity. Though Keef’s more aggressive material might’ve been what made him a star, you could always hear his penchant for singalong hooks and peppy melodies. However, less discussed is the influence of rappers like Roscoe Dash, Travis Porter or the Rich Kidz coming out of Atlanta pushing the swag or “futuristic” rap style. In Chicago, closer parallels were drawn to drill icons like King L (then going by King Louie) and Lil Durk, already burgeoning local stars before Keef’s ascendence. T-Slick)"Īfter Keef broke out in the mainstream, the obvious templates of Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy and Waka Flocka Flame were thrown around by critics. Yet it’s clear from these early, admittedly sloppy examples that the Chief Keef who would soon become a star definitely needed a little more grinding before evolving. Sloppy, with a high-pitched nasal voice that makes him sound like the missing Clipse brother, you can hear the vague influences of maybe a Wayne or a Jeezy. Listening to early records like “What Up” is a curious thing, as few of Keef’s standout characteristics are present. In 2009, Chief Keef was barely in his teens and already starting to rap with a surprising level of competency. For those unfamiliar, uncertain or downright uninitiated, we’ve provided you a play-by-play in the evolution of Chief Keef, to demonstrate how far he’s come - not by following expected standards, but by setting them.Īt 13, we might’ve been saving up our allowances, playing video games, practicing basketball or whatever middle school kids do. Not only is he a musical influence for artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Pump and Tay-K, but the nature of his career and the controversy surrounding him has been a blueprint we've seen duplicated again and again. Since then, he’s defied the rules of the rap game time and time again, all while somehow managing to emerge even more successful than before. Initially coming to recognition as a member of Chicago’s “drill” phenomenon alongside rappers like King L and Lil Durk, it didn’t take long for Keef to become the main figurehead of the movement.
![chief keef dedication soundcloud chief keef dedication soundcloud](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/200x/album/9770-back-from-the-dead.jpg)
Over the past decade, nobody was more unlikely a force to reckon with than Keith Cozart, the street rap prodigy better known as Chief Keef. A retrospective analysis of the storied history and ever-changing music of the irreplaceable Chief Keef.