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Chief Keef
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Chief Keef, real name Keith Farrelle Cozart, is an American rapper and producer, born in 1995 in Chicago. He grew up on the South Side, in the Washington Park district, with his grandmother, who was a school bus driver. He began rapping at the age of five with his mother's karaoke set and left school in his first year of high school. He started in 2008, released his first mixtape in 2009 and in 2011 gained local attention with mixtapes such as The Glory Road and Bang.
Music and breakthrough
In December 2011 he was arrested and placed under house arrest at his grandmother's. There he posted videos on YouTube, forerunners of the Chicago hip-hop style drill. His mixtape Back from the Dead from 2012 produced I Don't Like, his first entry on the American Hot 100. After a bidding war he signed with Interscope and the song was re-released with Love Sosa, which went five-times platinum. Both were singles from the debut album Finally Rich from 2012, his only release on a major label. Later albums such as Bang 3, 4Nem and Almighty So 2 reached the Billboard 200 as independent releases.
Influence
Chief Keef is seen as someone who brought drill to a wide audience and as one of the founders of the genre. Drill sounds cold and dark, with slow, heavy beats and a deadpan, shouted delivery. He also had a guest role on Bean (Kobe) by Lil Uzi Vert and All the Parties by Drake.
Listening
Love Sosa · Chief Keef, 2012Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 2012Finally Rich
- 2014Chiefin’ Keef
- 2014Nobody
- 2014Still Rich
- 2015Bang 3
- 2015Bang 3
- 2016Any Opponent
- 2016Young n Wild
- 2017Dedication
- 20214NEM
- 2024Almighty So 2
- 2026Skeletor
- ?Unreleased: Xanax
Mentioned in other articles
- Drill Genre
Drill emerged around 2011 in Chicago: hard, dark rap about the violence in the neighbourhood, with Chief Keef as the best-known name.
- YouTube Technology
Chicago drill rappers such as Chief Keef became known in 2012 with home-made clips.