After being released from his contract with Interscope in the Fall of 2014, Chief Keef chose to stick with the independent route, and has consistently released mixtapes and albums to feed his unrelenting fan base. In fact, as writer David Drake points out, a fairly recent music video of Keef’s, 2015’s “Earned it,” has accumulated over 30 million views on YouTube despite little to no radio push.
In one year “Earned It” did 30 million views with zero radio airplay. have any other songs done that? https://t.co/v4Lgp3TuB4
— david drake (@somanyshrimp) March 25, 2016
What’s clear is that the mainstream’s short-lived obsession with Keef’s spearheading of the drill movement in 2012 has done little to negatively affect his seemingly infallible foundation. Whether he’s got a hit or not, is on a label or not, or is collaborating with someone much bigger than he is or not, Keef finds a way to stay relevant. Oftentimes he thrives, as the stats for “Earned It” prove.
“Faneto” is a fine example. The song was released in 2014 on the Chicago rep’s self-produced Back From The Dead 2 mixtape, but was never given an official radio push, and didn’t have an official music video until now. However, last year Drake was seen performing it with a crowd in Chicago, and an Atlanta venue nearly met its demise when the song was merely played as part of a DJ set.
Say what you want about Chief Keef, but he’s doing something right.
