For a high schooler on the cusp of manhood, such obscenely violent fantasies and macho posturing shouldn’t be particularly shocking. As vile and destructive as Keef’s persona is on the album, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that he’s 17 years old. Fans who first became interested in Keef’s soundscape last year with the undeniably imitable “I Don’t Like” will find an album’s worth of foreboding, stark beats, cynical sneering at morality and a higher body count than any other sing-along to emerge from the Midwest in recent memory. Truth be told, the reason why Finally Rich works is because it feels like a fully realized vision. Most notably, there’s the Dracula-voiced “ Ha ha ha” chorus of “Laughin’ to the Bank,” which remains the absolute best Bela Lugosi impression on a rap song since Gorilla Zoe’s 2008 hit “Lost.” Also enjoyable is Keef picking up on the Waka Flocka secret of making menacing threats sound like childhood taunts, adding to the album’s absolute infectiousness. More than just a fun choice of words, Keef has adopted Future’s confidence to make some pretty outlandish choices with his vocals that all ultimately pay off. Every hook on Finally Rich is instantly memorable and incredibly tempting to work into everyday conversation. For the rest of us who can watch a Polanski film or listen to an orchestra perform a work of Wagner, Finally Rich is actually a pretty good time.įor as allegedly diabolical as Keef’s on-record/real-life persona is, he has an absolute gift for catchy chorus-writing. Of course it’s a nihilistic 45 minutes of pure attitude and id, so if you feel comfortable enough divorcing the real life ramifications of someone’s art because of the possibility they might truly be emulating it, this isn’t the album for you. Yes, if we’re judging the merits of listening to Finally Rich on what happens between pressing play and when the music stops, the album’s an incredibly fun and catchy debut.
I could run down a list of his various charges and sentences over the past month, but while they’re likely what he’s most recently known for, it’s easy to forget that he’s a musician who actually recently released a debut album. Having an opinion on Keef one way or the other is an easy way to elicit vitriol from a pretty substantial number of people, likely due to the 17-year-old Keef being a controversial, brash example of several problems facing youth today. Today, it’s Chicago’s most known juvenile delinquent Chief Keef. Every five years or so, it seems that a new hip-hop artist emerges whose staggering rise in popularity coincides with a personality and demeanor that makes him the most hated act in the genre.