Common Wants To Arrange Peace Summit With Chief Keef
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 20, 2012 9:00PM
Rapper Common says he wants to arrange a peace summit with teen rapper Chief Keef "to help change the climate of violence in Chicago." The fellow Chicago native Common touched on the issue of the shooting death of Lil Jojo, a rival of Keef and his crew. BET writes:
"I feel like we just gotta sit 'em down and build with them. Talk to them, get some type of peace thing going," he said. "It's bigger than rap. Kids is dying. I would tell Keef and all of them cats, 'Man we gotta sit down and figure out how we're gonna get to a peace meeting.'"
Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco has also linked Keef's music to the culture of violence in Chicago saying, “Chief Keef scares me. Not him specifically, but just the culture that he represents.” Keef responded on Twitter by threatening to smack Fiasco. It's not just his lyrics that link Keef to violence. After rival rapper Lil Jojo was shot and killed in Englewood earlier this month, Keef tweeted, "Its Sad Cuz Dat Nigga Jojo Wanted To Be Jus Like Us #LMAO," drawing a lot of controversy.
Keef's tweet drew attention from lots of people, including the Chicago Police Department who included him in their investigation. Keef later denied sending the tweet about Jojo's death, and sent out some tweets expressing more appropriate sentiments. Jojo and members of Keef's "300 squad" rappers Lil Reese and Lil Durk. had a gang-related war of words, and Jojo had recently released a diss track online called "3hunnak" with a video featuring graphic images of young men and boys holding semi-automatic weapons.The Sun-Times reports Jojo was also feuding with the Black Disciple street gang for months.
More violence could be brewing between the two camps. Rapper Lil Jay remixed Jojo’s last single promising to avenge his murder. Jojo's funeral drew large crowds, and Pastor Corey Brooks halted his walk across America to attend the funeral. Then the wake got tense, and a scuffle broke out. Police had to clear the funeral home.
Lil Jojo's mother denies her son had gang ties saying, “It wasn’t a gang thing, it was a rap thing.” She said Jojo was going to get a rap deal like Keef "and they were jealous," but she also says she knew there was a bounty on Jojo. Keef’s grandmother also denies her grandson has gang ties. She said his lyrics are about what he sees in Englewood, not what he does. Relatives of Jojo told the Sun-Times, "Most of the stories that he was telling in his music was reality. Truth. Some about gun violence wasn't real."
However, a police source told the Sun-Times, "Two gangs are fighting each other, going at each other all over the Internet and this is all stemming from that." Keef makes frequent references to "300," which is a known reference to the Black Disciples. Jojo made frequent references to "BDK," short for Black Disciples Killer.
As of yet, there have been no arrests made in the murder of Lil Jojo, and police have not named any suspects.