hi it's Thomas we're in the Windy City
Chicago home of deep-dish pizza the
Bears and the highest murder rate in
America
Scott was also home to drill music
brand-new rap made by teenagers about
killing people eternally superstars
chief Keith's we're gonna go hang out
with young chop
Dirk lo Reese and all the other
superstars of drill music Chicago has
one of the longest histories of gang
violence it's basically the place
invented gangs the most segregated city
in America it's basically his perfect
reading ground for like anger resentment
and violence and the type of awesome
music that comes from such an
environment which you're seeing what
you're witnessing is like someone trying
to break out of a cage almost yeah but
there's like a lot going on here and
it's only happening here you know you
could only really get a Chief Keef from
Chicago
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gang to do what they want to do it
became how are we doing
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in late 2011 chief keef posted a YouTube
video for a song bang
within a year keep as the teenage
Messiah of wrap his house arrest YouTube
videos have millions of views the
mixtapes they were called from started a
bidding war that netted him a deal on
Interscope and the music media scrambled
to get their own piece of Sosa and try
to make sense as a sunrise from the
streets with decidedly mixed results
including our own hey what's up noisy
this is childish gambino yo noises would
Chief Keef social bring back you
watching back and forth you don't even
you don't like talking that much right
you saying you know a big talker I feel
that well you're 17 your bouts are 18
yeah I really like to talk that much you
know I was 18 I just kind of like you a
lot of stuff I heard you like belts a
lot you know what belt is that plays fan
bindi bindi belt you got any other type
of belt Louise fan DS ain't got no
Gooch's all right boy you gave him away
so people people pitch Brooks attempt to
interview Chief Keef went even more
disastrously when they took him to a
shooting range in New York and handed
him a gun effectively violating his
parole on camera a Chicago judge used
the video of this smooth move to
sentence to keep the two months in
juvenile hall despite spending most the
last year confined to his grandma's
house and on both the Chicago police's
radar as well as rival gang members
chief keeps careers thundered forward
his Interscope deal could be worth as
much as six million dollars depending on
sales of his debut album finally rich
and he stands to make even more off
merchandising live shows and a film
adaptation of his life story we wanted
to meet Keith to see how a 15 year old
kid from one of the most dangerous
streets in one of the most dangerous
neighborhoods and one of the most
dangerous cities in America was able to
turn his terrifying childhood into a
multi-million dollar entertainment
franchise and turn his neighborhood
friends in the Chicago drill music scene
into hip hop's rising stars
unfortunately we arrived in Chicago the
de sousa went to juvie so we decided to
start with this producer
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Hey so we're in South Englewood we are
paying a midnight studio visits young
shop he's a impresario at the drill
music scene in Chicago and that's like
he's basically the Dre - she keeps Snoop
Dogg as a teen and his studios in his
mom's house is right on the railroad
tracks just making beats yes just on a
few beats out to a couple of major
artists you know giving places and all
that how do you start making music I'm
gonna start making music when I was 11
years old my cousin introduced me to
fruityloops
mhm and ever since then I've just been
learning not going outside and then I
finally got it that's when that dream
you saw happening
where'd it come from at first it was
called dead music cuz everything he
talked about his life they shouldn't
good people dying every day you hear me
it's just real life that's how people
related to it like the seal leather
backs and down come on rock come from
day one 107 late night can't swim
at the shack
and photos real music I don't know it
was drill everything was a drill I'm on
new shoes bro bro them drilling boom
oh my go do a drill is there anything
all day around us is this a real life
stuff those fellows that get it was
something like we're always embellish
that thing like funny but with you
guys it seems very serious yeah it's
really serious like it's too serious
chop essentially created drill music
right here in his mom's house in
Inglewood in addition to ki if he
produced hits for the other members of
the three Hana Fredo Santana lil Durk
little Reese hauling his desktop
computer to video shoots across the
south side for playback now 19 he's been
signed by Warner Brothers and whisked
around the Western world to work with
basically everybody important and rap
today unlike the rest of the Chicago
drills scene chop has never been
affiliated with a gang and has a
completely clean record
he's also straightedge you guys all did
this yourselves though like right like
it was ever ever like mentor figures
didn't care of nobody liked it or not
and we just did it
I hate these tryna with me
real I'm not a Hannam knees thanks
kid dad I take your laugh
is shooting down
it's like Houston's like when they be on
the lane in our legs yeah it's like
repeating the same stuff over and over
you won't know why it was like that dog
like when I repeat it cuz I gotta have
to come away at the end
yeah
[Laughter]
how did you meet chief keef he actually
hit me up on Facebook one day and then I
went over there to around my house and
then we did 300 that's when a fan-based
are coming everything like real be like
everything either stop coming social
media isn't just the engine for drill
musics craze descent for popularity it's
become one of the main lines of
communication and Chicago is
increasingly violent gang wars the
threats beeps and call-outs that gang
members to change on Twitter or Facebook
and YouTube end up being settled on the
street
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snake
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before they got into rap keep screw the
three Hana started as a faction of the
black disciples or biddies one of
Chicago's main street gangs ever since
the 1960s in spring of 2012 a rapper
named little Jojo associated with the
rival Gangster Disciples gang tried to
start a rap feud with Keith in the three
Hana by releasing a YouTube video for
his song BDK which stands for black
disciple killers the song mimic the
style of Sosa's signature hit don't like
and the video featured lil Jojo and his
fellow gang members dancing in apartment
also shirtless and with even more guns
to months after it's released little
Jojo escalated things by filming himself
and other Gigi's in a car harassing
three honey men were a little reese on
the street deep and black disciple
territory hours after the video went up
little Jojo was killed in a drive-by
while riding his bike in Inglewood
it's believed that JoJo's killers were
able to triangulate his location by
following his tweets shortly after his
death was announced Chief Keef expressed
his condolences via Twitter
you guys monitor Twitter and then use
the social media like is that helpful at
all to you social media absolutely is
where people are going now and it's
become a problem for us where they used
to mark up corners or things with spray
paint and murals now they're doing a lot
of that on the social media a lot of its
going there and that's what's moving
people into areas where crime is being
committed they'll see meat here let's
Google do this there and they direct
people to meet in places maybe a party
turns into a shooting
a whole lot of the gang stuff that goes
on right now in the Chicago area and I'm
presuming it's true around the country
is what starts on rap and on YouTube the
social media becomes the one that puts
it out there that begins and then it's
carried out in the street father Michael
Pfleger is a Catholic priest and social
activist who's been working on the
Southside since the 70s he does a lot of
outreach and mediation with the gang
members in his parish who are numerous
like us he's been closely following the
troubled rise of Chief Keef in the three
Hana they take a kid from Englewood
who's talking this kind of gang warfare
mentality to the whole him with little
Jojo and the rest of the BTK and all
this kind of stuff and keep this up and
look what happens on now all of a sudden
a hundred other kids who want to be
rappers and make money say wow look what
happened to Chief Keef he got all this
money he's going in this mansion in
Northbrook he's out in California so how
how evil can I get in my in my rapping
how gangster is can I get in my hip-hop
because that's what's paying
well keep and chopper the raging
supernovas of drill music stars
ascendant or fellow three honey men
burrs lil Durk and Lowell reefs of OTF
for only the family we went to see
Durkin recent work in the studio along
with some 30-odd members their lamrim
crew wall hail from the same blocks and
the corner of street and normal which is
spelled backwards at the time I did not
64 that normal is also Dirk and Reese's
corner it's not just where lamb Ron
comes from but also the namesake for the
three Hana
how's it going this could you guys
introduce yourselves
Chicago was j300 Oh sleeps well yeah
what's up six four we were there today
yeah I did it
way talkin big thing didn't you yeah
Cowboys lucky yeah what would have
happened if we were wrong with the
people Dirk has to be careful what he
says to the media because it's currently
facing a gun charge and his manager
doesn't want him saying anything that
might hurt his case or cause him future
legal trouble
I love the pitchfork debacle what's the
future of 64th of Norman we already
turned that weeping it turned up her
know what doesn't turn out me in
something else too
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make that 30
is gonna tap shake that I told my
head of thinking like up and I got okay
no in that jam Sam
it's a dirty Maryse they're like
workhorses oh man like constantly in the
studio mm-hmm it's just mentally we just
gotta have a lot of music you just never
know what might happen you just got a
key word you like key lock though right
now today he got a lot of music yeah are
you gonna work on that stuff yeah I'm
working on them mix it all that way to
communicate with them the closest we
could get to Keith himself what with him
being in juvie was the manager of his
personal label glory boys entertainment
interests also known as Peter Pan he's
the wunderkind responsible for
overseeing Sosa's transformation from a
teenage gangster with an ankle bracelet
into a teenage millionaire rap star
who's also some people scapegoat for all
of Chicago's social ills you know it's
just always some controversy some type
of curveball again thrown into the
equation today you know he got he got
sentenced to months you know you got to
sit down for a couple of months and I
think that you know overall you know you
you just got to see the blessing and
everything he's a kid he's growing up
you know on camera in front of everybody
you know on the internet and just in
front of people's eyes the reason why
this has become so big is because it
came at a time when that when a music
game really needed something organic you
know and I just think that you know when
people were seeing those videos they
could just see the authenticity behind
the this is the real dose nothing
fabricated about this you know and I
mean especially for Keef at the time
being 15 years old and you're looking at
the videos and you see in all kinds of
with guns and we smoke and ash it
was just like damn especially for people
who have nothing to do with that kind of
lifestyle at all that really took a lot
of people by they just fed into it you
know
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go hard go hard go they think like if
things were better in Chicago there
wouldn't be achieved you again now a
neighbor keeps from Washington Park you
know that our whole without whole areas
is you know it's rough man what you're
seeing what you're witnessing is you're
seeing like someone trying to break out
of a cage almost yeah you have to be the
best at this if you want to if you want
to change that's all there is
it ain't there's nothing else when
you're coming from a situation like that
other than imma sell drugs I'm gonna get
big in a dope game
this shit's been going on for how long
you know there's like a lot going on
here and it's only happening here I
think that you know you could only
really get a chief keef from Chicago
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