Keith Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his gang name Chief Keef, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He was formally signed to Interscope Records until he was dropped by the label in 2014, and is the CEO of his own record label, Glo Gang (formally Glory Boyz Entertainment). He is also affiliated with the Chicago street gang Black Disciples.
He began his career as a teenager and first gained attention and praise from his community for his mixtapes in the early 2010s. His first local hit, "I Don't Like" (featuring Lil Reese), was released in 2012 and soon entered the Billboard Hot 100, leading to a remix by a high-profile Chicago native, Kanye West. A major-label bidding war then ensued, resulting in him signing with Interscope. His music from this point onward would become credited with popularizing the hip-hop subgenre drill
on a mainstream level.
After he parted ways with Interscope, he continued self-releasing projects through his Glo Gang label, and achieved further chart success with features on songs by artists including Lil Uzi Vert and Drake.
Keef has also been involved with extensive legal troubles during his career, including weapons possession charges, house arrest sentences, and a performance ban imposed by Chicago authorities.
Discography:
Studio Albums
- Finally Rich (2012)
- Nobody (2014) - Collaborative album with Record Producer 12Million
- Bang 3 (2015)
- Dedication (2017)
- Glo Toven (2019) - Collaborative album with Record Producer Zaytoven
Mixtapes
- Bang (2011)
- Back From the Dead (2012)
- Bang Pt. 2 (2013)
- Almighty So (2013)
- Back From the Dead 2 (2014)
- Big Gucci Sosa (2014) - Collaborative mixtape with Gucci Mane
- Sorry 4 The Weight (2015)
- Almighty DP (2015) - Collaborative mixtape series with Record Producer DP Beats
- Almighty DP 2 (2015)
- Finally Rollin 2 (2015)
- Two Zero One Seven (2017)
- Thot Breaker (2017)
- Mansion Musick (2018)
- Back From the Dead 3 (2018)
Tropes associated with Chief Keef:
- Arch-Enemy: Lupe Fiasco and Soulja Boy, although they have since patched things up.
- Auto-Tune: He started this around Bang 2, which was used for the entire mixtape.
- Badass Boast: On the song "Kobe."
- Boastful Rap: "Love Sosa", a bunch of other songs also qualify.
- Children Are Innocent: Averted in every way possible, as he was part of a gang around his teens.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Better parents than his would wash his mouth out with soap, as he does this in a large amount of songs.
- Dissonant Serenity: Most likely what made him famous. Several critics and fans have noticed that in stark contrast to loud, energetic rappers like Waka Flocka Flame and Rick Ross, his music and line delivery have a disturbing and unsettling lack of emotion. Made even more so by the topics he raps about. Possibly Exploited by Keef, as his debut mixtape is titled "Back From The Dead".
- Enfant Terrible: Considered to be this for all of Hip Hop.
- Foreshadowing: Sort of a trademark of his. Ad-libs at the beginning of many of his tracks foreshadow later lines in the song.
- Gangsta Rap: Type 3.
- Gangsterland: Born and raised in the South Side of Chicago, which is often nicknamed Chiraq, a reference to how the area's murder rate is as high as the amount of troop that was killed in Iraq during the Iraq War.
- Kids Are Cruel: Was involved in crime at a young age.
- Lighter and Softer:
- "CHIRAQ" is a slow piano ballad with 0 profanity where he even says his daughter told him she admires him.
- His later songs lack the in-your-face, violent content that his earlier projects had once he left South Side Chicago and moved to Los Angeles once he had enough money to leave that area.
- List Song: On "I Don't Like" Keef lists things he doesn't like, including but not limited to fuck niggas, snitch niggas, bitch niggas and sneak disses.
- Money Song: One of his favorite things to rap about along with gats, sex, and how deep his crew rolls. His major-label debut is titled Finally Rich.
- Murder Ballad: The hook to "Love Sosa" includes the line "Hit him with the Cobra / Now that boy slumped over."
- N-Word Privileges: And he started out as a teenager.
- Ode to Sobriety: Inverted by "Hate Bein' Sober." And he was far from 21 when he recorded it.
- Refuge in Audacity: Arguably the basis of his whole career, especially considering that he started out as a child, and yet he started out as a child who curses, drinks, murders, and does drugs.
- Self-Made Man: Keef grew to popularity at sixteen years old through independently released mixtapes and music videos before signing to Interscope Records.
- Shirtless Scene: The music video for "I Don't Like."
- Silly Love Songs: "Slow Dance", he even mentions wanting to hold hands.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Keef has been accused of disrespecting his rap game elders. After Kanye West and his GOOD Music crew remixed Keef's breakout single "I Don't Like," Keef claimed via Twitter that Yeezy "ain't do shit for me." He also stood up 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa for a music video for "Hate Bein' Sober," on which the two aforementioned rappers are featured.
- Spoken Word in Music: The intro of "Love Sosa", in which a fanboy defends Chief Keef from critics.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: In his song "CHIRAQ"
- Teens Are Monsters: He was involved in gang violence alongside other folks his age in his native Chicago. To top it off, he is one of less violent individuals in his area.
- The Stoner: Listen to "Hate Bein' Sober" and many other songs where he's rapping about smoking weed and sipping on lean, something that he does in real-life.
- Take That, Critics!: On "Laughin' to the Bank", where he shits on his critics.
- Trap Music: He is one of the bigger influences in this genre. Also considered the main influence of the Drill subgenre.
- Truth in Television: Despite being a child, Keef's violent lyrics reflect his much-publicized lifestyle: he has been busted for drug dealing, flashing a gun at a police officer, and allegedly paying to have rival rapper Joseph 'Lil JoJo' Coleman killed.
- Younger Than They Look: As of 2014, he is 19, but appears to be in his mid-20's. Largely because he never had a childhood. However, he's aged very little since, and looks far closer to his real age now.
