Chief Keef is the Most Influential Rapper of the Decade

Yes, you read that right: CHIEF KEEF IS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL RAPPER OF THE DECADE! Sosa has paved the way for more rappers than you can imagine, but all anyone manages to talk about recently is how he's washed up and past his prime. In reality, Keef can never be truly past his prime because all he does is continually reinvent himself with diffferent flows and different trends. He is arguably responsible for the careers of all the current mainstream Chicago rappers today, due to the fact that he gave the southside of Chicago the spotlight to actually be heard. Some of your favorite artists in the rap game today like Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, 21 Savage, Juice WRLD, and many others have admitted the influence of Sosa in their music. Rising Southern Memphis rapper Key Glock stated in an interview recently, "He [Chief Keef] took the nation by storm, and that's what opened it up for the youth, like oh, this is a youth thing now. This is a young n**** world, just switched it up right quick, and that's still what's going on right now." As you can see, Keef is heavily influential in todays generation of rap and all his peers show him the upmost respect. Sosa has never been afraid to take risks when it comes to different sounds and different flows, even if he received criticism for it. Fast forward to today, many artists has done that exact same blueprint. The usage of unhitched/disjointed flows and production style from Lil Pump, to the space-sounding and melodic auto-tune singing that Playboi Carti and Uzi implement in their music, it's clear to see how Keef's influence stretches across many stylistic boundaries. Sosa's influence not only stretches across music though, but in fashion as well.

Sosa changed the rap game forever in 2011, when he released a video on Youtube simply called, "I Don't Like". The song was about, yes you guessed right, all the things that Chief Keef doesn't like. "I Don't Like" quickly blew the hinges off of the rap community by going viral, causing the media to take note. The song's violent lyrics and aesthetic caused controversy amongst some people who believed that Sosa was perpetuating an already rising murder rate in Chicago. For most people, the general disdain for authority was actually the thing that made him successful. The rebellious image became the massive selling point for Keef. The success of "I Don't Like" created an entire movement in Chicago to be brought to the forefront. The movement was known as, "drill music", which basically illustrates the crime and daily ordeals of living life in the Southside of Chicago. Once Sosa put drill music on the forefront, we seen rappers such as G-Herbo, Lil Durk, Lil Bibby, Fredo Santana, and many others start to garner a bit of attention, due to the spotlight that Sosa brought to the Southside. The fans, which were mostly black teenagers at the time, took interest in Chief Keef and other rappers from the gang culture because it showed that impoverished kids from the hood can make it big and make something out of themselves. Sosa's credibility and believability is what allowed fans to gravitate towards him. The other drill rappers copied the formula and was able to build a following themselves. Keef then released another viral hit called, "Love Sosa". This song displayed Keef in his true "Glory", we saw an inner city kid from poverty flexing money in designer, and from that moment kids wanted to be like Sosa.

After the success of "Love Sosa", Keef signed to the major music label Interscope and released his debut album, "Finally Rich", which raised his stock even more. Keef, being only 16 years old at the time, had features from some of the biggest artists in the rap game like Rick Ross, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, etc. Kanye West remixed "I Don't Like" and included Sosa on his #1 Album, "Yeezus" on the song, "Hold my Liquor". At this point, Keef was already labeled a Chicago legend and solidified himself as one of the GOATs. Keef is arguably responsible for a lot of the things we see in the rap game today. Sosa was rocking Air Force 1s with Polo Shirts and True Religion jeans. Next thing you know, teenagers all across the globe started dressing just like Sosa. Kids started even started using the same lingo that Keef would use like, "thot", "clout", "Let's Get It", etc. can all be attributed to Keef. He was wearing designer that no one was really wearing at the time. He mentioned the designer brands such as, "Balenciaga", "Giuseppe", "Margiela", etc. in his songs, which in turn made the fans want to buy those things as well. He may not have been the first to use those words or wear those designer brands, but he surely made them relevant. As mentioned prior, when Keef name gets brought up in today's time, the hardcore fans refer to him as the GOAT, while others say he's fallen off and past his prime. Without Sosa, there would be no Lil Durk, Polo G, G-Herbo, etc. He literally paved the way for them to have success. Obviously those guys are talented in their own right and they deserve all the success in the world, but Sosa did in fact give them the spotlight to be seen. Sosa will never fall off, he will just continue to reinvent and stay in his lane. Salute to the "Youngest Flexer of All Time"!