Interview: DJ Amaris

Posted by David on July 30, 2012

As I wrote in my piece for Spin Magazine, DJ Amaris (@Amaris1) is one of the earliest supporters of a lot of the younger artists in Chicago’s “Drill Scene.” I first met him in January 2011, the same day that I met Keef at his grandmother’s. Amaris organized shows for Lil Durk and Lil Reese, and was behind the two Keef shows that took place in 2011. Conducted May 28, 2011.

First, can you introduce yourself, your full name, where you’re from and how old you are.

Amaris Hewett, everybody knows me as DJ Amaris, 22 years old as of right now, from the South East Side of Chicago.

Can you give me a rundown of some of the different places you DJ?

I’m one of the number one DJs in Chicago between grammar school, high school, colleges, and some 21-plus events, even social clubs. I DJ the majority of all the high school events, via prom, regular dance parties and college homecomings. I also throw the number one college parties in Chicago, period. I’m the CEO of TKO Entertainment. [Some of the clubs I've Djed are] Adrianna’s, The Zone, Secrets, Mr. Ricky’s, Geisha Lounge, I’ve done clubs out of town but those are basically just some of the clubs in Chicago.

I talked to Kiara, Katie Got Bandz, and she mentioned that maybe a year ago, if you went out to some of these parties, a lot of the music getting played was from out of town. But then—her estimate was in the fall of last year—she started hearing more Chicago stuff. I was wondering if you could talk about that, when you started playing Chicago stuff in your sets.

Well basically—I’m not gonna say that style of music wasn’t played heavy. I’d say more Atlanta stuff. Downtown would play more like the Waka’s and the Future’s. I started playing more of this kind of music because I wanted our scene to get on. I started playing local artists like Chief Keef, Chris Mille, my artists from TKO… A lot of guys from the East and South side of Chicago, the guys from Dro City, King Louie. That was just off the strength that I’ve got a relationship with a lot of artists, Freaky tha Geek also. They reach out to DJs and some DJs are cocky, like, “you gotta pay me to play my records.” I feel like we’re all in this together, and if an artist has a crowd, and as a DJ or promoter I have a crowd, if we intertwine crowds, that makes it better for all of us. You get your music played as an artist, I’ll keep branding my name as a DJ and promoter, as a whole, we make the city of Chicago look big, and hopefully the bigger goal is to get everyone a record deal.

When did you start DJing with a lot of Chicago artists?

I started playing Chicago artists before a lot of other [DJs] did because … I’m always doing high school or college parties, and those are basically the ages of a lot of the new Chicago artists now….Basically by me being in these parties, there’s always someone like, here you go, I’ve got a CD, I’m a young artist, I’m from this side of town, play my stuff…that’s how it all started, being in different environments. I do a lot of events, I did backyard parties, so I was in different neighborhoods dealing with people, being hand-to-hand with them. That’s basically how it got started.

What other DJs have you noticed be really supportive of local artists in the scene here.

DJs Victoriouz, Twin, the big homie Pharris, the Block Club Djs—DJ Slugo, DJ Stew, all those guys, they’ve got a lot of DJs, DJ V-Dub, DJ Ron. There’s a lot of DJs I can say break certain artists or have tried to do something with Chicago here.

Musically it seems like the Chicago scene is pretty diverse. What do you listen for?

Usually I start with the beat, or if the hook is cool…or if I think it’s something people might relate to. Because the way Chicago’s going it’s like a blood bath, it’s a war zone. I know some people can relate to some songs that’s about pain, some songs that’s about being in the hood, some song’s that’s about trying to make it out the hood, trying to survive another day in the hood because that’s what’s going on right now. Basically I look for things I can relate to. Sometimes I play it because I feel like I’m a real young man out here and I feel like I’m surrounded by people that’s trying to get to another level. And a lot of music I play is that. It’s artists trying to show that they trying to get to another level.

When did you start to notice a lot of people starting to rock with Chicago music in the clubs?

A lot of DJs tried to take the Chief Keef thing and the Lil Reese thing to another level. But you can ask them guys themselves, I’m the first DJ to break their records in any club. I played “3hunna” first, I played “I Don’t Like” first. I was playing “Bang” first, I played everything. I’m the first DJ and promoter to ever book Chief Keef for a performance. So a lot of DJs are trying to take credit for that and I just want that to be known, I’m the first DJ to every play his music in the clubs, and I’m the first promoter to ever book him for a performance. I just want it to be known. I think that after Chief Keef started to buzz, I see more DJs trying to play more Chicago records. The Chi City Record Pool is a big thing, the big homie Booz put that together, him and V-Dub, and their camp. They try to bring all the DJs and artists together. But even with that, there had to be something else. There’s a big line of communication missing right there. There’s a lot of DJs that they’ve got certain artists that they deal with, and they play their music. But now because of the Chief Keef era, a lot of DJs are trying to reach out to more artists, because they see there’s a lot more opportunity and chance there.

How did you first discover Chief Keef’s music?

I was sitting at my house—you know, I had been playing Durk and Reese. I had booked Durk and Reese for their first performances. We even took them to [University of Illinois at] Champaign[-Urbana]. I threw a homecoming party at Champaign and they came down with us. We were doing events at Adrianna’s for my birthday bash, and other college parties. I was playing them and one of my brothers kept playing this “Bang” song, and I’m like, what the hell is this? “Bang Bang!” I’m like, what the fuck? I’m looking at the video, and that’s when he had maybe a hundred thousand views. It grew on me. I downloaded the video, and I see he was cool with—I own a not for profit organization called the Golden Knights Drill Team, and one of my drill team members went to school with him. And I’m like, tell Chief Keef to get his number for me, I want to talk to him. And the number was wrong, so I ended up going through some things and catching him and having a conversation with him, and then even after I got into the song, I was Djing a party on 75^th, and one of the cliques that they in brought me his mixtape when it first came out. I played it with the DJ Hustlenomics drops on it!–he’s another guy that tries to break Chicago artists– But the “Bang” song is what really broke me, so after the I started listening to a lot of his other songs and I’m like, damn, well, if the kids are liking this, the sixteen, fifteen year olds … I believe in reinventing the wheel. I believe that if you’re 21, the new 21 and up clubs in a minute are going to be the guys that’s hooked on Chief Keef now. Why not start young? So I reached out to him and we chopped it up a lot, and that’s what moved that. I was supposed to be his official DJ, I dunno what happened with that, wherever it went, but things change. Shout out to the whole GBE I rock with them the long way, I still play their music heavy.

What are the biggest new songs that you’ve been playing that have gotten a big response from the crowd, let’s say any Chicago artists other than Keef.

Prince De, “Foreign,” he had a song with Waka last summer called “Foreign.” He got a song called “Real Niggas Back.” We from the same neighborhoods on the south east side. I feel like King Samson, he have some nice joints. Chris Mille. Of course Katie, I was rockin with her real heavy. Freaky E had a nice club banger. KD Young Cocky. There’s a lot of artists that people don’t play. Even Young Chop’s artist, Rampage, he got a nice mixtape. I’m rocking with their movement heavy. The #NoTalking guys, there’s a lot of artists that people don’t know about. Chinchilla Meek, Chella H. There are so many artists out here that are not getting noticed. I’m trying to be more diverse, trying to play everybody. The majority I’m playing right now are Chicago artists, plus Future, Waka and Gucci.

What’s the hot Gucci song right now? My pick was “Plain Jane.”

“Plain Jane” is my joint, that’s in my car right now. I got the regular one and the one with Rocko and T.I. too. I like the regular one but the remix is what’s up. I like him and 2 Chainz song, “Okay [With Me],” I’m playing that hard.

Other than Keef, who has the biggest track right now in clubs or parties that you’ve played?

It’s a toss-up. Keef set a tone, so everybody want a beat that sound like Chief Keef beat. It depends on what club you’re at, it depends on who’s there. There’s a lot of cliques, like, AAB. They got a song and they might be thirty swole, and if their movement is in a party or club jumping, everybody else start jumping with them. Chris Mille songs are very touchy, motherfuckers fuck with them hard. Katie Got Bandz, the women like her. Sasha Gohard, the women like her. It’s a toss-up, but Keef set a tone. You play another Chicago artist, they’re like, OK, we’ll listen to it, because you’re playing it. You play Keef, motherfuckers are going crazy, jumping up and down. They want to hear what’s going to happen. He set a high-ass tone, and I can’t commend him on that [enough]. The tone is set high. People are like damn, another hit, another hit. I’m just happy I was able to be a part of him getting to where he is now.

How did you lock down all those school parties, how did you hook that up?

I can’t even tell you, I feel blessed, the lord keeps blessing me. I work hard on DJing. You gotta come out with me man. Everybody knows if another DJ’s there, and I come in, everybody gets happy cause they know I’m gonna rock the party. Everybody wants to shine, I can shine a different way. Thats the reason I started playing Chicago music; everybody wants to play what’s hot. I drop what’s NOT hot, and make people feel it. That’s how I got to where I am now. I started finding the Waka’s and the Future’s that wasn’t nobody up on, and dropping it first. I started doing Chicago music that nobody heard, or that they seen the video but couldn’t download the music. That’s how I branded myself. And then my skills at DJing are really good. I studied DJing, rub shoulders with the right older heads, like DJ Stew, Pharris looked out for me before. A lot of older guys have bumped shoulders with me and tried to help me, they see I have a powerful movement, they see I’m serious, and they see people mess with me, people rock with me hard.

Do you think there is a Chicago sound right now. A lot of people are trying to do the Keef thing. Would you say there was a Chicago sound, what separated Chicago’s shit from the rest of the country’s?

It’s got more pain in the music. You look to Chicago artists, you can really feel what we’re talking about. If you look on the news, this shit is real out here. People are dying left and right and it’s barely even summer. People are out here spitting their lives on these tracks. It’s not no fake shit. People need to realize that right now we’re the murder capital. It’s people losing family members, people are working at McDonalds and taking their McDonalds checks and going to studio sessions … this is real, you can hear the pain on the track, you can hear the pain, see the division, you see people trying to go with the music. Whatever it is, it’s diverse but whatever the diversity, it’s pain, and everybody’s going towards the same goal.

Chicago Hip Hop Summer 2012 begins

Posted by David on May 17, 2012

Ebone Hoodrich – Why U Lyin (Prod. by Chase Davis) (2012)

With MTV in town to shoot throughout the city and throw two separate shows, this week has been pretty crazy for Chicago rap; King Louie announced through a Source interview that he had signed 2 or 3 mo. ago to Sony/Epic, dropped the “Val Venis” track he’d threatened a few months back, and more than a few other artists dropped some must-downloads as well.

Not to be missed:

Chris Mille f. Yale Lucciani and Katie Got Bandz – Shake Somethin’ (Prod. by Smylez)

King Louie – Val Venis (Prod. by C-Sick)

Young Giftz and Broadway – Whoaaaaaaa (Prod. by LoKey)

Edai – Gucci (Prod. by Smylez)

Which Chiraq, Drillinois Lady Hitta has the Better 2012 Anthem?

Posted by David on May 3, 2012

Official DGainz Discography

Posted by David on April 19, 2012

DGainz just posted his complete production discography to his facebook page, and I checked with him to see if he’d be cool with me copying it over here so it might be more available to the general public / more googleable. So here is DGainz discography, as provided by the man himself:

Lil Kenny – Fresh N Fly
Lil Kenny – Swagg So Official
Lil Kenny – Let Em Know
Lil Kenny – I’m What It Is
Lil Kenny – I B Silly
F. Dot – Real Nigga
Choppa Da Goon – I Go Hard
Buck 20 Brick Boyz – We Ain’t Mad
F. Dot – Welch World (For Tha Hood)
DGainz & F.Dot – Waddown
DGainz feat. Vic Mone- I’m A Monsta
Choppa Da Goon feat. Sam u L & DGainz – Ya Man Ain’t Gotta Know
Buck 20 Brick Boyz – Neva Talk 2 Feds
Vic Mone – So Many To Choose
Choppa Da Goon – On My Grind
Billionaire Black – I Swear
Vic Mone – Still Goin’ In
DGainz & Billionaire Black – Wanna Be Me
Evon & I’man – Big Wheels
Vic Mone – They say
Sdot & Choppa Da Goon – Dat kush
Vic Mone, Billionaire Black & DGainz – Hypnotize Me
Billionaire Black – The Intro
Lil Durk – I’m a Hitta
Lil Durk – Gotta Go Hard
Kay One – Original
Billionaire Black feat Brittany & Sashagohard – Trust Me
DGainz feat. Buck 20 Brick Boyz, Vic Mone & Lil Durk – We Ball
Vic Mone- Same Ol’ Hoes
Vic Mone – Back In Dis Bitch (Murk Em)
Buck 20 Brick Boyz – Get It On
Sam u L – Stamina
Billionaire Black feat. 50 Shots – Rappin’ & Robbin’
Shady – Go In
Vic Mone – 9 5 Crazy
DGainz – Not At All
Choppa Da Goon – We On Live
DGainz – Canon Camera Shawty
Vic Mone – Too Good
Chris Mille – What’s My Name
Rocky Kicks – Magic “32
Chase N Dough – Double Moments
Buck 20 Brick Boyz – No Comparisons
King Louie & Boss Woo – Money Dance
King Louie – Where The Bitches At
Lil Durk – Fly Wit Me
King Louie – New Soul

YOU CAN FIND ALL THESE SONGS AND MORE @ YOUTUBE.COM/DGAINES1234
IF YOU NEED A BEAT HIT UP DGAINZ TWITTER.COM/DGAINZBEATS

David’s Best Raps 1st Quarter 2012

Posted by David on April 13, 2012

Full admission: I’ve barely processed the E-40. Dropping a triple-album imbalances my carefully-balanced song weighing system. So he just gets mentioned at the top.

30. Sweetz P f. M.O.E. and Link, “Trippy” (Prod. by Cardo)
29. Fat Trel, “Intro (By the Way”) (Prod. by Kane)
28. Dapp, “Headache” (Prod. DJ Kenn)
27. Sasha Gohard, “I Think I Like” (Prod. by Young Chop)
26. Action Bronson & Riff Raff, “Bird on a Wire” (Prod. by Harry Fraud)
25. DJ Kay Slay Feat. Torch, Gunplay & Ace Hood, “Got Damn”
24. Ty Money, “Ready to Ride” (Prod. by OKBTZ)
23. Kendrick Lamar f. Gunplay – “Cartoon & Cereal” (Prod. by THC)
22. Chief Keef f. X-Mane Shawty, “Save That Shit” (Prod. by Young Chop)
21. Feva f. Husalah and Franchise, “Handsome”
20. Lil Durk f. King Louie, “I Get Paid” (Prod. by Fya Starta)
19. Cash Out, “Cashing Out” (Prod. by DJ Spinz)
18. DJ Paul, “Cocky” (Prod. by J. Green)
17. BJ The Chicago Kid f. Kendrick Lamar, “His Pain” (Prod. by Sounwave)
16. Lil Durk, “L’s Anthem” (Prod. by Paris Beuller)
15. Young Thug, “Keep in Touch” (Prod. by London on the Track)
14. Lil Reese, “Haters” (Prod. by Dibent)
13. Teairra Marie f. 2 Chainz, “U Did That” Remix (Prod. by Rico Love)
12. 8ball and MJG f. Big K.R.I.T., “We Buy Gold” (Prod. by Big K.R.I.T.)
11. Gucci Mane f. Rocko, “Plain Jane” (Prod. by Mike Will Made It)
10. Jackie Chain f. Collie Budz and Jhi Ali, “Nice and Slow” (Prod. by Block Beattaz)
9. Nicki Minaj, “Beez in the Trap” (Prod. by Kenoe)
8. Chief Keef, “3hunna” (Prod. by Young Chop)
7. Starlito, “Substitute” (Prod. by DJ Burn One)
6. Chip Tha Ripper, “Out Here” (Prod. by Lex Luger)
5. Rick Ross f. French Montana and Drake, “Stay Schemin’” (Prod. by Beat Bully)
4. Gunplay, “Jump Out” (Prod. by DJ Speedy)
3. King Louie, “Bars” (Prod. by C-Sick)
2. Dr. Dre f. Kendrick Lamar, “The Recipe” (Prod. by Scoop Deville)
1. Chief Keef f. Lil Reese, “I Don’t Like” (Prod. by Young Chop)

Albums (incomplete – still have a bunch to fully process)
Boldy James, Consignment
Tree, Sunday School
Lil Durk, I’m Still a Hitta
Schoolboy Q, Habits & Contradictions
Jackie Chain, After Hours
Feva, Pay Da Fee
Gucci Mane, Trap Back
Young Thug, Came From Nothing 2
Rick Ross, Rich Forever

Bang: The Launch of a 16-Year-Old Chicago Rapper — Leftovers

Posted by David on March 22, 2012

I wrote about Chief Keef for Gawker a week or so ago; my initial draft had been considerably longer than space would allow — this was a very rich story, with a lot of different angles that I wish I could have gone into in more detail. There were definitely some ideas and quotes that I thought readers might find interesting, as well.

I’ll be answering some questions that piled up on the somanyshrimp tumblr after I publish this, so if you are curious about this story, feel free to ask through tumblr.

On DJ Kenn’s early influences and arrival in Chicago:

Kenn, who declined to give his real name for this article, is originally from the Yamagata Prefecture of Japan. He produced the beat for “Bang,” as well as several of Keef’s other songs. He discovered hip-hop as a teenager living in Japan, and became a big fan of Dr. Dre, Nas and Cam’ron. (“[Stillmatic and Come Home With Me] are classics to me,” Kenn said when asked about his favorite performers. “I used to listen to those every day.”) When he turned 18, around 2005, Kenn moved to Tokyo, and within two years followed a friend to New York City. “I always looked up to him,” he explained. “He was doing music with people [in the U.S.]. I was like, I want to do music like him.” The United States completely changed Kenn’s perceptions of hip-hop. “Right here, everything is life-sized,” Kenn said in a thick accent. “Radio, parties, or even clothes, anything. This is real. In Japan, it’s different. People get older and they start to listen to it. Right here, it’s like babies listen to hip-hop, they grow up with the rhythm.”

Kenn had planned to just spend a year in the United States, but within ten months of moving to New York, he flew instead to Chicago. He spoke little-to-no English, and knew no one in the city; he just knew he wanted to make music. He was wandering through Woodlawn, near 60th and Indiana, when a man discovered him and found him a place to stay. His name was Keith, and he was Chief Keef’s uncle. “He took me to an apartment right there across the street”–Kenn gestures out the front window— “and I stayed over there and started to do music. Keef came through, [Fredo] Santana came through, and we started recording.”

First impressions of 11-year-old Chief Keef

“First time I came to the studio, I didn’t fuck with a lot of people. But when Keef came to my studio, I was like, this boy…” he trails off, gesturing, as if to gather thoughts he hadn’t put into words before. “He’s different. Even how he talks, how he acts, how to rap [sic]. He was only 11 years old but he was different than everybody. How he talk, how he’s thinking …. [He] always comes with something new. Everybody is trying to do somebody [else] — no disrespect to anybody–but Keef, each song he comes with something new, just him.”

Breaking into the High School audience; the influence of DGainz; shooting the video for “BANG”:

“We used to pay attention to what Bump was doing. They was out hardcore in the streets.” In 2006 and 2007, Doe and Louie used to burn CDs and distribute them by hand: “Schools, bus stops, El stations, parties we would go to.” One of Louie’s earliest tracks became famous throughout the network of East Side High Schools when the star rapped about all the girls he had slept with, naming names. Lyrics and catchphrases could spread like viruses; Doe quotes a particular King Louie lyric. “You could walk up to anybody on the South Side this summer, ‘roll up the dope–’ [they respond] ‘where the bitches at.’” He continued: “There are so many schools on the East Side. The Kenwoods, the Dunbars. And the CPS’s (Chicago Public Schools), once you’ve got those, they spread around throughout the communities. Each person from that school might be from a different area. So they go back to that area and spread it. It’s like a domino effect. And the East Side has been at the forefront of that movement for a long time.”

King Louie’s rise coincided with the arrival of Duan Gaines, a hip-hop producer and pioneering street cinematographer who goes by the name DGainz. “I was working with my little cousin, producing and writing for him. The songs were nice songs, everybody liked them. I said, we need some visuals to them. So I bought a camera and it came natural.” DGainz is a humble 23-year-old, untrained in cinematography. He’s also the driving force behind Chicago’s underground street-rap scene as it’s made its way to the Internet for the very first time. His success was rapid and influential, and much of it occurred in the past year.

DGainz received a big boost when he was contacted by Louie this past summer. Louie had become the South Side’s biggest local star. Once DGainz dropped a dark, cinematic visual for Louie’s “Gumbo Mobsters,” the floodgates opened, and artists from across the city wanted a DGainz video. One of these artists was Chief Keef, who contacted DGainz directly through facebook.

They met at A.O.N. studios, which was located in an apartment and run by DJ Kenn. The video to “Bang” was shot in 30 minutes in the backyard of the studio. “I just wanted to give it the look that it sounded [like]. It had a grimy sound to it,” said Gaines. By the time Keef’s Bang mixtape was released in early October, the video for the title track had 70,000 views. By New Years Eve, that number would surpass 400,000, largely, according to YouTube statistics, through mobile views; kids were watching the videos on their phones. It had become the runaway hit of DGainz already-impressive videography.

Katie Got Bandz on her goals as an artist:

Katie Got Bandz, whose “I Need A Hitta” has in the area of 95,000 views to date, has been performing at dance halls, clubs and sweet sixteen parties since her track took off earlier this summer. Shot by Citi Boi Skills, another of the street cinematographers to rise in the wake of DGainz increased notoriety, the track made Katie — whose real name is Kiara Johnson — a local celebrity. She says she first noticed that her song was taking off when she started getting negative feedback. Like many of the artists behind these videos, there was no calculation to her success; her motivation to pursue a more serious career came from the sudden fanbase that urged her to keep recording. “I don’t really care about the fame or the recognition,” she says earnestly. “I want people to respect me for who I am, not for where I’m going, or just for the work people know me by.”

I spoke with a high school teacher who observed these artists popularity firsthand:

Lydia Merrill, a high school art teacher whose former students included both Katie Got Bandz and Sasha Gohard, could see the artists’ success firsthand. She first heard about Chief Keef through her students, prior to his appearance on WorldStar. She knew a few of her students were aspiring rappers, but it wasn’t until students started inquiring about a particular self-portrait hung on her classroom wall that she realized how big they had become. “Students were always asking me if that was ‘Sasha,’ and I would correct them saying, ‘no, it’s one of my former students, Yaniesha.’ Until one day someone told me about all the videos.”

On violence in the communities:

Alex Riley argued that this was simply the lifestyle of kids in the area: “Honestly, from where I grew up, and a lot of kids my age growing up, they have guns. Kids keep guns on them because they’ve got to protect themselves. And these kids be bad as hell, they do a lot of bad shit, so they can relate to what he’s saying. And ALL of them smoke loud. I’d say every kid born ’92, ’93, all the way up, only smokes loud weed. So everything he’s saying, they can relate to. That’s why they’re so attracted to it.”

Big Homie Doe echoed this sentiment. “It’s sad to say, but that’s what happens. That’s what goes on. A lot of these kids—people like me, Louie, Keef—grew up around situations like that. It’s sort of what people know. It’s not like people [are] looking on the TV and emulating anything. A lot of the gangster shit and all that started in Chicago, dating back to the Al Capone days. It’s deep-rooted here in Chicago. Even all our politicians are locked up. It’s something sort of in the water and especially in the blood of people here….Because if you’re there with them yourself, and be around [these neighborhoods], you’ll see what’s going on. And you’ll talk about the same things, too.”

Chief Keef on rap style:

“See, motherfuckers think I can’t do metaphors and ain’t about metaphors and punchlines. They–” he gestured at a fanbase, outside the apartment, “don’t want to see me do that. I don’t sit down and ‘think,’ I write about what’s going on right now, what we just did, what just happened. That’s what I write about. I don’t be trying so hard. I used to, ask him–” he points at DJ Kenn. “He told me to stop! Kenn was the reason. He said, ‘stop saying so much.’ That’s why I got comfortable and started–” he’s interrupted suddenly by someone knocking at his door; he signals them through the window, banging a vase against it to get their attention.

Chief Keef gets into rapping:

Keef grew up in Woodlawn, just a few blocks east of his grandmother’s residence. He attended Dulles Elementary at 63rd and King Drive, and all the people in his videos are people he’s known since he was young. His grandmother is a school bus driver; his mother still lives in the neighborhood. (“Fuck my dad,” Keef said brusquely; Keef has a daughter of his own now). Keef was raised on hip-hop; he remembers first hearing Beanie Sigel and G-Unit, and his earliest memories of rapping were into an old karaoke machine when he was around nine years of age. “Little-ass kids, about ‘05, ‘04. We used to freestyle, I used to be so cold, even when I was a little shorty. I used to be freestyling raw as hell! See now my brain’s fucked up from smoking so much loud, but I was raw! We had the blank tapes, put ‘em in there, got the little mic, got the beat playing, the weak-ass beats and shit. Called ourselves Total Domination.”

Chief Keef on his favorite rappers:

Since his sudden national breakthrough, Keef’s found some allies in unexpected quarters. In addition to avant-weirdo Lil B’s appearance on the “Bang” remix, critically-acclaimed rapper Danny Brown showed some enthusiasm for Keef recently on Twitter. But Keef’s hip-hop aspirations are well within hip-hop’s mainstream. “Gucci, Soulja, Future, Tity Boi, Young Jeezy, Yo Gotti. That’s about it,” he says about his favorite artists, before adding that in Chicago, all he sees is King Louie and his friends from the neighborhood. Later on, he raps the hook to Fat Trel’s “Respect with the Tec,” a song from another young, rising artist. Trel became a breakout street rapper last year, in part thanks to his own singular visual presence on YouTube.

DJ Kenn on being an outsider from Japan:

“To keep it real, it made me realize this is a whole other country, this is not Japan. And–I cannot speak [well]–it made me change a lot. Sometimes it was too bad. I used to think you can trust anybody, I was trying to be positive to everybody. It made me think, you can’t trust nobody. But at the same time, good friends are good friends for real. No matter what. It made me strong.”