Best Chief Keef Albums
Balancing his characteristic humor with newfound vulnerability, Keef’s latest is a worthy capstone to a prolific year in which the Chicago rapper has resurrected his reputation and career.
Keith Cozart has been known to the public as Chief Keef since 2012, when his first hit, “I Don’t Like,” vaulted him into the national consciousness. He was 16 years old then, and for many, he was inextricably linked with the crisis of gun violence in his native Chicago. The lightning to the thunder that was “I Don’t Like” was a WorldStar video of a kid excited that Keef, who had been sentenced to house arrest for unlawful use of a weapon, had been released—the first hint of the enthusiasm that would accompany the rapper’s initial rise. But Cozart is 22 now, and in industry terms, his arrival might as well have been a decade ago. His latest full-length, Dedication, is a testament to how much he’s grown—not necessarily as an artist (though that’s there too), but as a person. It’s a worthy capstone to a year in which Keef has released four solid-to-great solo projects, resurrecting his reputation and career.
Keef’s unconstructed approach to rap has earned him ferocious critics, in addition to those who would summarily dismiss him for being simply a bad influence, a media spectacle, or both. In his hometown paper’s good-faith review of his major label debut, Finally Rich, the writer Greg Kot asserted that Keef’s sole innovation had been to appear colder than any other contemporary gangster rapper, and dismissed his mumbled verses as “robotic, deadpan, stoned.” It was a fair assessment, if a stingy one. But five years later, with Keef matured and mellowed, it’s easier to listen to his current music and pick up on the charisma that caused one of his deeply passionate Chicago fans to threaten to beat the hell out of anyone questioning his reputation back in the day.
There are several indications of Keef’s growth on Dedication, but nostalgia is the principal element that unites the record’s grab bag of styles and approaches. It’s everywhere. Glimpses of his school days surface on “Keke Palmer,” where there’s an early reference to blue books; on “Text,” he recalls toting a BB gun in his lunch bag in second grade; and on the fearsome throwback “Glory Bridge,” he’s thinking about how fly he looked at school. In a recent interview, Snoop Dogg asks Keef what he loves the most about being from Chicago. The rapper, who has lived in California for the past several years, thinks for a moment, and then confesses to missing the city in its entirety.
It’s that willingness to admit to vulnerability, to having emotions other than fury, that keeps Dedication interesting throughout. Keef will never be a perfectionist. His verses are not compulsively crafted or alive with brilliant wordplay; they’re compelling mainly for their turns of phrase, for the sudden jokes or changes in perspective. His deadpan sense of humor remains well intact. The second verse of “Told Y’all” includes the immortal line, “Pull up in all white like a Nazi,” and there’s a funny couplet on “Keke Palmer”: “Hopped on yo shit and killed it, like ‘Whose song is this?’/All up in my DM, man, ‘Who mom is this?’” Keef admires Lil Wayne, and while he doesn’t share Weezy’s technical ability, he does share his role model’s gift for the unexpected left turn, the hilarious surprise.
Atlanta’s D. Rich produced more than half the songs on Dedication, with standout turns from StuntMan (“Keke Palmer,” “Text”) and Ness (“Glory Bridge”). In contrast to Thot Breaker and with the exception of the weirdly tender standout “Negro,” the record is decidedly drill, and on the imperial beats for “Mailbox,” “Cook,” “Get It,” and others, Keef teleports back to his old life. But while it’s not quite JAY-Z-on-American-Gangster-style reminiscence, even the more vividly violent songs here feel like they were made at a remove. “I passed the streets with flying colors” he boasts on “Bad,” another highlight, and the past tense is clearly intentional.
Though the record has some weak links, it’s cleverly sequenced to minimize mediocrities. It opens with two fantastic singles, “Ticket” and “Keke Palmer,” and is backloaded with can’t-miss tracks including “Negro,” “Less Speed,” “Kills,” and “Told Y’all.” Along with a couple of appearances from the GBE rapper Tadoe, there are solid features from A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Lil Yachty, but they blend in so well that you barely notice how unusual it is for Keef to break with his traditional insularity and collaborate with artists outside his immediate circle. It’s just another sign of his newfound humility, a quality that comes with age—and one that, after this year, should make even the most ferocious anti-Keef partisans willing to give the 22-year-old’s music another chance.
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Finally Rich
108,798 listeners
12 tracks · 1 January 2012
I Don't Like
46,504 listeners
1 track · 1 January 2012
Finally Rich (Deluxe)
36,800 listeners
15 tracks · 1 January 2012
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