Written Before Listen
So it turns out Chief Keef is back, and let me say that will never be a bad thing. When Chief Keef dropped Finally Rich, the kid was only 17. He is now 26 and unfortunately hasn’t topped the success of Finally Rich, but with this new album over here, I heard nothing but good things about it and I hope those reactions are solidified. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Impact Of Chief Keef
I’m going to backtrack a little bit, back to the production. I think Chief Keef has an undeniable impact on today’s rap game with the production and subject matter, and in the world of Pop Smoke, Young Thug, 21 Savage, and City Morgue, I think it’s the necessary time for Keef to make a comeback the same way Avril Lavigne just did. Drill music is becoming more and more definitive and the sound has reached other countries. With that being said, Keef has an excuse to refuse the changing of his style. If it worked in 2012, I think it could work now.
Production
Chief Keef was coming through with a brand new sound when he came onto the scene. Fast forward to now, and he seems to be riding that same wave despite sounding kind of outdated. That has its pros and cons to it. For example, the snare rolls on “See Through” are a lot and they go on for way too long. “Like It's Yo Job” is basically Chief Keef’s remix of “Slob On My Knob”. Other than that, Chief Keef knows what instruments to grab for his producers. The brass hits, the MIDI strings, the drill drums, and subby 808s are all prevalent and sometimes it’s predictable, but most of the time, the relentless aggression and ferocity ignore any thought of the music sounding outdated.
Vocal Performance
Chief Keef man…..He is in Super Saiyan mode on this mixtape. He hasn’t sounded this hard since Finally Rich and that is low-key including “Faneto”. He is on a whole other with the aggression, Not only with the delivery but the aggression against his opps. On the opening track, we hear right away how energetic he sounds, and with the song “Hadouken”, he has the identical energy of any random Chiraq posse cut. He even breathes on the track and it sounds hard….I’m not exaggerating. He breaths on the track and it sounds hard. Who else but Keef.
Songwriting
When it comes to Keef’s songwriting, holy shit….the dude is ruthless. “Like Its Ya Job” alone is extremely misogynistic and don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to be raunchy because…everyone has those emotions but holy shit. Chief Keef might have created one of the most degrading songs against women. Luckily, there are some good one-liners, especially on songs like “Tuxedo” and “Hadouken”. I guess my resolution on Keef’s songwriting is that he is ruthless as fuck on this album, but sometimes it’s too much, yet sometimes it works perfectly.
Cons
Except for some of the filterless songwriting, I do think some of the songs do get somewhat predictable. I also think that some of the production to this day sounds outdated despite working with the aesthetic of the album. Except for those things, Chief Keef went Super Saiyan on this album.
Verdict
What a time to be alive, Chief Keef has solidified himself capable to match if not top Finally Rich. Will he top his mixtapes? Probably not because those mixtapes are trap classics but we’ll see what he can do shortly. For now, I will say that he has shown that longevity for Keef is possible.
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