S. Samuel
Rap veteran Rhymefest is not issuing any open apologies over his publicized rant against companies like Interscope Records for eyeing fresh talent like Chief Keef and said he fully stands behind what he wrote.
Fest said his blog post served as a means to open eyes rather than split up music fans.
“I meant to say what I said. It’s really not about Chief Keef as much as it is about exploitation. It’s no coincidence that one of the most violent periods Chicago has ever seen, that this is what represents us musically. This is what represents us as a people. We have a history here of Curtis Mayfield, Kanye West — and so then when we get to senseless violence, the prison industrial complex is real,” Fest explained in an interview. “I don’t have anything against any particular kind of music. My problem is the imbalance of the music that we get. So if all of the diet of the music that you get is kill kill kill and we’re going to glorify that, then that’s what we are conditioning our shorties and they’ll never end. They’ll do it, they’ll sing about it, they’ll rap about it and that’ll be it.” (WGCI)
He also received support from New York rapper Saigon who backed up his scrutinized remarks.
“@RHYMEFEST wasnt dissing Chief Keef or whatever his name is, He sayin the same shit I was saying. Its not abt da puppet, its da puppetMASTER,” he tweeted June 27th.
“We know the ills of our community is nothing to glorify at this point.. We know the horror of the guns, drugs and so on. Lets move on…”
“RHYMEFEST Yeah we up against the house negroes… Wont be easy” (Saigon’s Twitter)
In his “Chief Keef Is The Bomb” post, the Chicago rapper asks fans to consider what powers are backing up the teenage star.
“Chief Keef is a “Bomb”, he represents the senseless savagery that white people see when the news speaks of Chicago violence. A Bomb has no responsibility or blame, it does what it was created to do; DESTROY! Notice, no one is talking about the real culprits, the Bomb maker or the pilot who is deploying this deadly force (Labels, Radio Stations). Its easier to blame the bomb. Bombs are not chosen for their individual talents, they are tools used for collateral damage. To think of the persona of Chief Keef as a person would be the first mistake, he will more then likely come and go without us knowing much of anything about his personal pains, struggles, great loves and ambitions beyond rap. He is a spokesman for the Prison Industrial Complex. Every corporation is expected to grow at least 4% each quarter, many prisons are privately owned with stock being traded on the open market. If these corporations were to do commercials, jingles and promotions who would they hire? You got it, most of the main stream rappers we salivate over like Rick Ross the former correctional officer turned Drug Lord Boss rapper. Waka Flocka Flame gang bang “GO HARD IN THE PAINT” and Chief Keef the newest lottery pick in the “Get paid to destroy young minds, like we destroyed yours” Sweepstakes. [sic]” (Donnie Nicole)
Around mid-June, Keef officially announced a partnership with Interscope Records.
Chief Keef already told you what he don’t like, but Interscope Records, that’s that sh– he do like. On Saturday (June 16) just hours before he took the stage at Birthday Bash with T.I. the Chicago upstart inked a deal with Jimmy Iovine‘s label and gave RapFix the exclusive. “I’ve been talkin’ to a lot of labels, but I just noticed that Interscope got people like 50, Eminem,” Keef told us after he got off stage performing his breakout track, “I Don’t Like.” The teenage spitter also revealed that he signed a publishing deal with Dr. Dre. Keef was recruited by a few labels including Cash Money and T.I.’s Grand Hustle. (RapFix)
Check out Rhymefest’s interview below:
