He is the id on display, with the same “fuck everything and everyone” attitude that has powered the existence of entire genres throughout history. He writes for, and thrives within, a generation that uses ALL-CAPS phrases as emblems on social-media sites, but that’s not to say that he shuts out anyone who can legally buy a drink. What he does instead is take the shortest - and, crucially, the catchiest - route to connecting with his audience. This gets read as “dumbed-down” (or as just straight dumb), but that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire function of Keef’s words. As a rapper, he’s a straight descendant of Waka Flocka Flame: His lyrics are direct and purposefully bereft of showmanship. The idea that Chief Keef is somehow undeserving of his success can be traced back to a number of factors, but musically speaking, it’s obvious why there’s been such a blowback. That may sound like a minor point, but it speaks to nothing less than the unalienable artistic skill that so many people are invested in making you believe he doesn’t possess.
What’s more, Finally Rich, the 18-year-old Chicago rapper’s first proper album for Interscope, is almost entirely free of the ass-covering, meddling, and Pepsi-ready timidity that has long been the cynical hallmark of mainstream rap music. Now he’s done something even more unlikely: He’s made one of the best rap albums of the year, and one of the best major-label debuts in recent memory. Chief Keef did something in 2012 that plenty of people didn’t expect: He persevered.