by Dan O

Behind the boards I think of Keef as someone who went from “hooks up a mean sandwich” to “owns the best deli in town.”

I was most fascinated with Chief Keef after he fell out of the mainstream media crosshairs. Thinkpiece articles need a centerpiece, someone to become a symbol and they made Sosa the symbol of surging Chicago crime then moved on when they figured out they didn’t care that much about what happened to Chicago. I wanted to see how he handled it. What do you do next? Debut album goes top 30 Billboard after mixtapes that shook the world of music. Tides turn and a new sensation becomes symbolic. Keef kept getting better. To be fair, Keef has always been a dynamic performer who understands how vocal shifts can take a song from cool to outstanding. Behind the boards I think of Keef as someone who went from “hooks up a mean sandwich” to “owns the best deli in town.” He released Almighty So 2 on May 10th of this year and its one of the most raucous, well produced albums in the drill/trap universe. The production run from track 7 (Runner) through track 11 (Drift Away) is equal parts propulsive and masterful. It got me thinking about what Keef could do behind the boards for a whole album… for someone else. Who would I want him to collaborate with? My five are below:

1. SolarFive-A Chicago legend who produced on Mick Jenkins mixtape The Waters as well as his own beats. I love Solar’s flow and his subject matter delves into the incredibly dark, nihilistic and sad while staying afloat with a thick layer of humor. These two minds would craft a glittering Chicago diamond the world wouldn’t be able to ignore. A tribute to how hard and slick and singular Chicago Rap is not to mention everything its given us. Solar is one of my favorite rappers and I have no doubt Keef would understand.  

2. Cardi B-We expect way too much of female rappers. Publicly clowning them for not having good enough choreography or wearing not enough/too much designer. This house of mirrors of expectations leaves no clear path forward. Screw the expectations. Make a MEAN @$$ album with Keef and spit flames until you burn these fools to the ground. Cardi is rapping better than she ever has and I need her to disregard the radio, make people catch up to her vision and push herself further than anyone’s expectations.

3. Conway The Machine-One of the best pure rappers in the game but he’s starting to sound better on other peoples songs than his own. Conway and the Griselda trinity helped usher in this drumless underground reality we reside in and its difficult to segue out of. The best way to do it is with someone who knows their own sound, can provide layers of orchestrated pieces without the sum total drowning you out. A Machine/Sosa album would be the hardest album of whatever year it came out in and give Conway a potential window to a more radio friendly version of what he’s already comfortable doing.

4. Brother Ali-Talk about massive life shifts. Ali has been so many things from fire breathing Scribble Jam battler to his position now as thoughtful messenger of peace. His album Love & Service is very dope but his search for peace has taken away the ROAR I used to adore. Traces of it can be found on the song Manik (because you can’t rap from a peaceful center next to Casual and Aesop Rock without sounding like the least important person on your own song). Keef supercharges songs with adrenaline. A shot or two of which could reconnect us to fire breathing Brother Ali, whom I dearly miss.

5. Fat Ray-cold, mean beats give Fat Ray power. He doesn’t need anymore power…but what if he had so much more? Ray is born to rap his face off and every appearance he makes has me hungry for a follow up to 2021’s Santa Barbara. These two make different flavors of fight music but swirling them together would give us a flavor we’ve never had before.