Chief Keef's neighbors spoke to reporters yesterday following the shooting at his manager's Northfield home. "We all knew that something bad was going to happen at that house," trembled one resident, withholding her name for fear of retaliation.
The Occupation of Chiraq
Yesterday morning, Chicago police detained "drill" rap sensation Chief Keef—born Keith Cozart—in connection with a shooting in suburban Northfield, Ill. Hours earlier, Keef had posted photos of himself with fellow rapper Ballout posing with a submachine gun, a semi-automatic rifle, and three loaded Rugers. Just in…
Chief Keef Reportedly Involved in Shooting Outside Chicago
Early Wednesday morning, Chief Keef was reportedly involved in a shooting at a home in Northfield, Ill. that left at least one person hospitalized
Who Taught You to Love Yourself: Learning From the Ghosts of Gun Violence
As a general rule, I hate movie scenes that take place in the rain. Not necessarily because of the rain itself, but because whenever you see rain you know someone is sad, or in love, or sadly in love, or dying. I believe in the human capacity for imagination, and that we haven't come up with a better device to show…
Prosecutors Say Chief Keef's Gun-Laden Pitchfork Interview Was a Probation Violation Worthy of Jail Time
Last month we told you that burgeoning teenage rapper Chief Keef was riding his legal troubles to Kanye remixes and tracks with Young Jeezy. This month, those same legal troubles might find the 17-year-old Keef behind bars.
Chief Keef's Gun Rites of Passage
Chief Keef's entrée into hip-hop earlier this year was a quick and unusual one. At 16, Keef had made a small name for himself on Chicago's south side with a handful of enthusiastic but poorly produced rap videos, the most promising of which was "I Don't Like." As its name portends, "I Don't Like" is a musical rundown…
Riff Raff's Got a Record Deal: Making Sense of the Most Viral Human Being in Music
One night last week, Houston rapper/viral phenomenon Riff Raff was sitting in my living room in Brooklyn, eating a bag of Wise BBQ potato chips. The day before, he'd flown to Daytona Beach, Fla., to shoot a music video with 19-year-old viral rap ingénue Kitty Pryde, and now he was in New York to do photo shoots and…
Today's Song: Kanye West Featuring Chief Keef, Pusha T, Jadakiss, Big Sean 'I Don't Like (Remix)'
Chief Keef, the 16-year-old unsigned rapper from Chicago, is still on house arrest at his Grandma's, but now he has a Kanye West remix to his name, because technology has had something of an effect on musical collaborations. Instead of recording in the studio together, Kanye sent some producers from his new label,…
Hip-Hop's Next Big Thing is On House Arrest at His Grandma's: Meet Chief Keef
Before he was arrested last December, Chief Keef, a 16-year-old hip-hop star, was almost completely unknown outside of Chicago's South Side. He had a song called "Bang," which had more than 400,000 views on YouTube, and he had a mixtape, and a dedicated following amongst Chicago high school students. But he was not a…
