Chief Keef

Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Chief Keef was born Keith Farrelle Cozart in Chicago, Illinois, on August 15, 1995, to Lolita Carter who was 15 and unwed.

He is named after his deceased uncle, Keith Carter, who was known as "Big Keef".

He lived at the Parkway Garden Homes located in the Washington Park neighborhood on the city's South Side, a stronghold for the Black Disciples street gang of which Chief Keef is a member.

Chief Keef has been estranged from his biological father, Alfonso Cozart, since he was a year old.

His legal guardian was his grandmother with whom he lived in Chicago.

He began rapping as a five-year-old using his mother's karaoke machine and tapes to record his music.

During his childhood, Chief Keef attended Dulles Elementary School and Dyett High School.

He dropped out of Dyett in his freshman year.

Born and raised in Chicago's South Side, he began his recording career as a teenager and first garnered regional attention and praise for his mixtapes in the early 2010s.

In 2011, Chief Keef first attracted local attention from Chicago's South Side community with his mixtapes, The Glory Road and Bang.

In December, he was arrested for firing a gun from his car in Chicago's Washington Park neighborhood; he was placed under house arrest at his grandmother's residence for 30 days, followed by another 30 days of home confinement.

While under house arrest, he posted several videos to his YouTube account, forerunners to Chicago's hip hop subgenre, drill.

Chief Keef met Japanese immigrant producer, DJ Kenn, through Chief Keef's uncle.

DJ Kenn worked with Chief Keef on many of his earliest songs, and was involved with the 'Glory Boys Entertainment' (GBE) collective.

Keef's song "I Don't Like" became a hit in Chicago.

A local party promoter called it "the perfect Chicago song because 'niggas just hate everything out here'".

It caught Kanye West's attention, and he remixed the song with rappers Pusha T, Jadakiss and Big Sean.

As a result, Keef "suddenly shot up out of obscurity".

His first local hit, "I Don't Like" (featuring Lil Reese) was released in March 2012 and soon became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, spawning a remixed version from high-profile hometown native Kanye West.

A bidding war between major labels resulted in Cozart signing with Interscope Records.

A follow-up single, "Love Sosa" found similar success as he released his debut studio album, Finally Rich in December of that year to moderate success.

His recordings from this point and onward would become credited with popularizing the hip hop subgenre drill for a mainstream audience, with Cozart often named as a progenitor for the genre.

Cozart has faced extensive, ongoing legal troubles throughout his career, including weapons possession charges, house arrest sentences, and a performance ban imposed by Chicago authorities.

In the summer of 2012, Chief Keef was the subject of a bidding war among record labels wishing to sign him, including Young Jeezy's CTE World.

While 2012 proved to be a relatively quiet year in terms of his musical output, Chief Keef began the year by signing with Interscope Records.

In a separate deal, he was promised his own label imprint, Glory Boyz Entertainment (GBE).

The deal was worth $6,000,000 over a three album layout, with an additional $440,000 advance to establish GBE.

The deal gave Interscope the right to pull out of the contract if Chief Keef's debut album Finally Rich, released on December 18, 2012, had failed to sell 250,000 copies by December 2013.

Featured guests on the album include rappers: 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross and his fellow Glory Boyz member Lil Reese.

In May 2013 he signed with 1017 Brick Squad Records.

Chief Keef is featured on "Hold My Liquor", the fifth track on Kanye West's album, Yeezus, released on June 18, 2013.

Keef's contributions to the track were praised by musician Lou Reed who said, "'Hold My Liquor' is just heartbreaking, and particularly coming from where it's coming from – listen to that incredibly poignant hook from a tough guy like Chief Keef, wow."

On his 18th birthday, August 15, 2013, Chief Keef celebrated by releasing the mixtape Bang, Pt. 2.

It was highly anticipated as the first project following his debut album, but received a mixed to negative critical response.

On October 12, 2013, another mixtape, Almighty Sosa, was released.

Like Bang, Pt. 2, Almighty So also received mixed to negative critical reviews.

After serving his October 2013 jail term (see § Legal issues), he began working on his second studio album and a biopic.

Despite parting ways with Interscope in late 2014, he continued self-releasing projects through his own Glo Gang label, including Nobody (2014), Back from the Dead 2 (2014), and Bang 3 (2015).

In 2020 and 2023 respectively, Cozart would reach his furthest chart success with his guest appearances on "Bean (Kobe)" by Lil Uzi Vert and "All the Parties" by Drake.