Songs about guns and drugs set against the backdrop of Chicago’s real-life violence have made Keef one of rap’s most polarizing figures — troubling to some, alluringly authentic to others. And life has often seemed to imitate art: In September 2012, when Keef’s rap adversary Lil JoJo was shot and killed in Chicago, Keef tweeted, “Its Sad Cuz Dat Nigga Jojo Wanted To Be Jus Like Us #LMAO,” reportedly leading police to investigate his connection to the murder. (He later claimed that his Twitter account was hacked.) Shortly after, he was remanded to juvenile detention after doing an interview with Pitchfork at a gun range, thereby revoking his parole for the 2011 gun charge. More arrests (for speeding and disorderly conduct) and brief jail stays followed. Keef was even temporarily banned from Instagram for posting a picture of himself receiving oral sex.
“I’m 18 now, but I feel like I’m 30,’ Keef says. “I partied like a motherfucker — guns, girls.”
Keef’s 2012 debut, “Finally Rich,” only sold 50,000 its first week, according to Nielsen Sound-Scan, peaking at No. 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It went on to sell 217,000 copies altogether.
“A lot of times, I got pissed off at Keef,” Peeda Pan, one of Keef’s managers, tells Billboard while driving from Los Angeles to Wavelengths. He says the rapper blew off several high-profile opportunities surrounding “Finally Rich,” including BET’s “106 & Park’ and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ — but adds that he respects his client’s autonomy. “He knows what he’s doing a lot more than people give him credit for. He has control. People ask, ‘Why did he do that?’ He knows why.”