Chief Keef has marked his return with his latest album Almighty So 2.
The album arrived after a three-year gap between his latest offering and 2021's 4NEM. The 28-year-old drill pioneer's influence dates back to 2012 with the arrival of his hit songs "I Don't Like" and "Love Sosa." In a new interview with Grammy.com, the Chicago native provided insight into what that influence has meant for him.
Veteran journalist, author, and podcaster Shawn Setaro posed the question, "A lot of critics talk about how influential you are. Are you aware of people saying that stuff about you?"
"Everywhere!" Keef answered. "If I had 500 M's every time [I heard that], I'd be Jeff Bezos. The fuck? I think I'd probably be bigger. I would be more rich!”
He continued, “I be hearing that a lot, though, man. I be tired of hearing that shit. I be like, ‘We know.’ Me, you, and God know that. It's okay. Let people do what they do, man. I was a big fan of Gucci [Mane] and Lil Wayne. Still am. So if I got people who love me like that, shit, man.”
Keef then described just how impactful Gucci and Weezy have been for him, and that he still plays Gucci Mane from the late aughts.
“And we still even sometimes take our raps [from that],” he added. “The old Lil Wayne, I still even rap like that. If you listen to ‘Jesus,’ I got his flow—some Lil Wayne, the old Wayne, inspiration. So I guess I inspire, the way they inspire me.”
Setaro also asked Chief Keef about his upcoming performance at Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash, which will mark his first gig in Chicago in over a decade.
"It's been a while, man. I ain't gonna lie, it's gonna be like I'm a tourist when I go there. It's been a long, long time. It's been like 11, 12 years since I touched the pavement in Chicago, or Illinois, period. I'm ready. I know it's going to be a big thing. A lot of new people probably think I'm a ghost. ... So a lot of people are going to be excited, just knowing I'm from there and I ain't been there in so long. People that's not in even Chicago—all them surrounding cities gonna show up [too], because Sosa has not been home. And they know it's gonna be big."
Read Shawn Setaro's full Grammy.com conversation with Keef here.
