CHIEF KEEF

Taken out of context, the songs on Chief Keef’s big-league debut aren’t terribly remarkable. The Chicago rapper slurs his way through slang-heavy lines about liquor, drugs, money, guns, jewelry, foreign cars and occasionally the validation and security that come with success. He’s blunt and boastful, an unrepentant gangsta who found internet fame while under house arrest. The interesting thing: Keef is just 17. His youth is a detriment and a boon, and while he lacks cleverness and flow he brings the raw honesty of an American teenager falling through the cracks yet enjoying the ride. The music is an afterthought, but when Keef breaks from producer Young Chop’s anxious fidgeting and gets a beat from, say, Mike WiLL MadeIt, he shows his inherent musicality, suggesting his fame isn’t a fluke, and that this promising debut may lead to bigger things.

–Kenneth Partridge