Looking To Chief Keef To Turn It Around

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 14, 2013 3:00PM

If I was Chief Keef, I probably would have spent the last 60 days sharpening my proverbial axe so heads roll — today.

Then again, I'm not a 17-year-old up-and-coming rap star with a lot of money to lose. Still, I'd be temped to fire everybody helping to guide my career, from the promotions folks at Interscope Records to my agent to my manager to whoever else who might have told me it was a good idea to fire a weapon in a New York City gun range last summer.

In a way, it's astounding nobody in Keef's corner stopped to ask, "Are there any legal ramifications here?" before he filmed a promotional video with a firearm. All of them knew they had a kid on their hands who was on probation for a weapons charge, yet it appears no one bothered to check the terms of his probation to see if there was any looming trouble.

It landed Keef 60 days in the hoosegow.

Of course, this is not to absolve Keef of any culpability here. After all, he earned that probation when he pointed a gun at a Chicago police officer in December 2011.

He also should have been aware of the terms of his probation himself. If he didn't understand what the judge meant when he was ordered to have no contact with firearms, then he should have asked his attorney.

Maybe he did understand them perfectly and the lure of promoting himself at the firing range was too much for him to resist. Perhaps when the folks who signed him to a reportedly $6 million contract told him to go the firing range and look like his wallet says, "Bad Ass Motherfucker" on it, it was tough to say no.

After all, we're talking about a 17-year-old kid who is in the big leagues. This isn't the world of making YouTube videos in the basement with your buds anymore. He's in show business now, and it's a new ballgame with a lot more eyes on him.

There are signs Keef (real name Keith Cozart) will walk out of the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles with a new outlook on life. The Rev. Corey Brooks of the New Beginnings Church has said he plans to Baptize Keef after the young rap star is released. Brooks, better known as the rooftop reverend, has been quoted saying Keef is God-conscious.

Maybe it's a signal Keef is ready to turn things around since what he has been up to has gotten him incarcerated. Maybe this is just another promotional stunt on the part of Keef, or Brooks, or both.

Your correspondent is going on record to say that he's pulling for the kid. I think he has some really raw talent, but he's got a lot of growing up to do both as a person and an artist. I hope he can show us he has another gear in his game and can really mature into the star he has the potential to become.

But it's going to be all on him. He is the one that has to make sure Keith Cozart controls Chief Keef before Chief Keef controls Keith Cozart. There is a lot of outside pressure on him pulling in all directions, and a lot of people out there hoping he fails. It's a lot for any 17-year-old kid to face. So I say, good luck.

By: Casey Moffitt