Chief Keef and Lil Wayne can now be counted as the most foul-mouthed motherfuckers in the rap game, after a study was conducted by the good folks at Musixmatch, who brand themselves as having the world’s largest lyrics database.
The report used Google searches in order to compile the most popular artists from each of the music genres (hip-hop, heavy metal, electronic, pop, indie rock, rock, folk and country) and only used studio albums in their analysis. It’s probably no surprise to anyone ever, that hip-hop dominated both the categories being assessed, which were, highest swear word count in lyrics and most frequent use of swear words.
Now obviously when taking into account the highest amount of profanities used in lyrics, it would be logical to assume that the artist with the most albums under his or her belt would be taking home the award. Unsurprisingly, the top 5 artists in this category all have a rather extensive discography.
Out of the 361 artists studied, Lil Wayne leads the charge with 3,960 profanities in his lyrics, closely followed by Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes and T.I.
It’s an entirely different list of names that make up the top 5 when looking at which artist uses swear words most frequently. Chief Keef takes in that well deserved award, dropping some profanity once every 20 words. He is closely followed by Dr. Dre, N.W.A, A$AP Rocky and Young Thug.
The study also reveals the top 3 vulgarities used by each of the hip-hop artists in both categories, which are pretty generic and exactly what you would expect, easily summed up with four words which are “ni**a”, “fuck”, “bitch” and “shit.” Literally the only exception being A$AP Rocky, who’s third favourite expletive was “pussy.”
Personally I find it a tad disappointing that a full list of what the study counted as “swear words” wasn’t released. Taking a look through the other genres a number of reasonably mundane words crop up like “ass” and “bum.” While others are downright questionable, with Aerosmith’s top profanity being “lust.” Lust? Fucking really? Is that even a profanity? I could probably swallow “cum” (haha) as a profanity, which ranks third for pop star Tove Lo. You can turn cum into a profanity if you try a little bit, but counting lust is a bit of a stretch.
It’s also pretty impressive when you take into account that “prick” which was number 3 for Paul Kelly of all people, was counted as a swear. Did they have to sift through all uses of “prick” to establish where it was used as profanity as opposed to where someone was describing getting a bindy after a particularly spirited match of backyard cricket?
Another point to consider is that the study also most likely attributes profanities of sampled and featured artist to the main artist of the song, which is the only way to explain Mark Ronson having “ni**a” as his third most used swear word and Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Japanese musician most famous for playing the piano, having “ni**az”, ni**a” and “shit” as his top 3 profanities. I’ve personally only heard two songs by Ryuichi Sakamoto and they were far from swear word riddled ballads, so his inclusion in the list for those particular expletives either makes him a racist or an honorary member of N.W.A.
Feel free to check the list out for yourself in full and make your own decisions as to whether or not “dogging” and “sex” should really be counted amongst the top profanities, you motherlusters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKLQDh4YyI
When a substitute teacher walks into a classroom, students look forward to a 60-minute bludge filled with dated instructional science videos and surreptitious laptop Tetris. The grade six class of Fiske Elementary School, Chicago must have been surprised when their sub hit them with a one-day intensive into the musical history of Chief Keef.
Now, Chief Keef is not typically an object of academic examination in the mainstream quadrivium. This may be due to the controversial nature of his personal life: at age 20 Chief Keef already has a comprehensive criminal record and four young children. His youngest son was named ‘Sno FilmOn Dot Com’ – in an effort to promote his new label FilmOn Music. Or it could just as easily be due to his limited talents as an artist. Either way – that wasn’t enough to stop one plucky substitute teacher from channelling her inner Dewey Finn and dedicating an entire lesson to the Almighty Sosa.
Maybe she felt it was her duty to educate the next generation of world leaders about the beautiful union of 808 kick drums and off beat raps. Maybe she needed to read them that ancient tale of the Gucci duffel bag, brand new Jordans, and bubbling Pyrex. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to learn about Drill.
Well, the kids will have to learn about Drill sooner or later
But whilst her taste in music was modern, her teaching methods were dated; assessing her student’s knowledge with the archaic method of standardised testing. Question 3: who shot Chief Keef when he was 16? Question 11: why was he placed under house arrest? “At what age did he stop attending school?” asks Question 8, casually inviting the class to examine the causal link between money, power, fame – and the necessity of a formal education. (Answer = there’s none). And just to be a real hard ass she graded them. Look! This dude got an ‘A.’ A little trap lord in the making.
Parent Shawnta Powell was upset to learn that an entire lesson had been devoted to the controversial rapper. “If you were a sub, you were supposed to take on whatever assignment the regular teacher was given, not what you wanted to give them” she says. Another concerned mother, Katrina Sanders, had hoped music class would teach her son about the great composers: Mozart and Beethoven. Ahhhhh, but Katrina, is it not time to embrace a less whitewashed curriculum that examines the music of different cultures?
Sure. But start with Jay-Z. Chief Keef is somewhere way further down the line. And a thorough examination of his criminal history probably wasn’t necessary. Even a 6th grade music class has the good sense to leave out the part about Beethoven’s post-hepatitic and cirrhotic liver.
But in perhaps the greatest dereliction of her duty as an educator, the questions she asked weren’t even hard! Everyone knows Chief Keef’s real name is Keith Cozart. The mind of a 12 year old is a precious, giddy and ever-expanding thing! It has to be challenged! Not with asinine questions about stage names. But with stimulating discussion on the birth of Chicago Drill from Atlanta Trap.
Despite the attempt of this modern day John Keating to bring the gift of music to the youth – she was formally dismissed. That’s that shit I don’t like.
Rappers have always had run-ins with the law. Some have been put behind bars, some have been banned from entering countries and some, like Chief Keef, have been deemed an “unacceptable role model,” in a statement issued by a spokesperson for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The comment is in reference to the Chicago rapper facing an arrest warrant in Illinois for allegations that he failed to pay child support. Keef has been unable to return to his hometown of Chicago for a full year for fear of being arrested.
It is a surprising statement, as since the warrant was issued Keef has done nothing but make music and try to put on a series of concerts by hologram. The concerts were meant to be benefits to raise funds for the families of Marvin Carr, a fellow Chicago rapper and friend of Keef’s who was gunned down in July, and Dillan Harris, a 13-month-old child who was killed by a car fleeing the scene of that shooting. Being unable to perform in Chicago (in person or by hologram), Keef moved the concert to Indiana. The performance was billed as ‘Stop the Violence’.
But it seems that even in Indiana, Keef’s presence still “posed a significant public safety risk,” as the concert was shut down after the opening song. Police stormed the stage and tackled the hologram version of Keef, only to find themselves face down on the floor in embarrassment when they passed straight through the body of light.
Well, that’s not exactly how it happened. It’s just kind of hard to imagine police shutting down a hologram if they didn’t mistake it for the actual Chief Keef. Can ‘allegedly’ not paying child support really instil such fear in officials that even his likeness is guilty? But somehow, Chris Brown’s constant and public disrespect and violence towards women is ignored? It makes no sense – and now, suddenly, several other venues have cancelled the hologram shows.
Personally, Chief Keef strikes me as a stand-up dude (lack of child-support payments aside) – the concerts were, after all, to raise money for the families of two people killed in a shooting. Keef will not be deterred from the aims of ‘Stop the Violence’, putting on his futuristic concert last Friday night at Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. For a holographic show, there were some very real speed bumps, and the show had to pull out of its original venue at the last minute after a producer reportedly “was hurt” during a walk-through.
The Theatre’s parent company AEG cancelled the show, forcing Keef’s reps to move the benefit concert to a new venue (a parking lot next to the Fonda theatre). Keef’s reps have also filed a police report of their own regarding the situation, and called the venue’s actions a “cover-up [of] brutal assault by its security forces.” An AEG rep disputed these allegations, saying that the cancellation was due solely to “concerns for the safety of our employees and the public”.
Not all attendees made it to the new venue, which might have been a big deal but ultimately didn’t matter because the Keef hologram was again shut off after only one song. An organizer told everyone in the audience to meet up at a nearby club, and security guards started forcing people to leave. Billboard tracked down a police officer and asked him what happened, and he explained that Keef didn’t have the proper permits for this holographic performance.
Seemingly backing Keef all the way, Alki David, CEO of FilmOn and Hologram USA, was very disappointed by the decision made by AEG and the venue, blaming the Mayor’s laissez-faire politics:
AEG and the Fonda Theater have continued the shameful cycle of blaming hip-hop and the artistic expression of urban youth for their own corporate malfeasance. This follows on the Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s attempts to silence Keef and scapegoat him for his city’s complete inability to solve the war-zone like crisis on the South Side, and on the Madison Square Garden Company’s bumbling attempt to back out of a tri-city peace concert to benefit the family of a murdered baby.
Keef has also responded eloquently to the events:
“fuck Henry Fonda and fuck jane Fonda too”
— AlmightySo (@ChiefKeef) September 18, 2015
And, somewhat less colourful, here is my official response:
Australia probably won’t let Keef in to perform, but I think we should at least allow his hologram.
Since it seems we won’t be seeing Chief Keef perform anytime soon, you can stream his new album on Spotify.
One of the weirdest, and perhaps most entertaining aspects of following the life and times of celebrities and their procreations, are the ridiculous names they give their children. From Gwen Stefani’s Zuma Nesta Rock, to Shannyn Sossamon’s Audio Science (not a college class she undertook unfortunately, it’s her actual child’s name), celebrity names seem less a creative output, and more a hilarious gift for us regular folk.
Sometimes, a celebrity releases an offspring into this world and names it something so terrible, even the worst of us can’t laugh. Enter ‘Sno Filmon Dot Com’, the name of Chief Keef’s two month old son, and record label. No, this isn’t a joke. Seriously.
A representative for Keef’s label has stated that, “Chief Keef and his newest baby mama have agreed to name the newborn Sno FilmOn Dot Com Cozart in order to promote the release of Sosa’s double album Bang 3 with FilmOn Music and MondoTunes on September 18.”.
Chief Keef, whose legal name is Keith Cozart, is allegedly still questioning the paternity of his child. While he figures that out, we have the second part of his album ‘Bang 3′ to look forward to, coming this September.
Ugh. Just ugh.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpj39Znv0oA&w=560&h=315]
Chief Keef knows Mondays are hard, and he’s got the perfect antidote: the artist has dropped the third mix tape in his Bang series ahead of schedule to soften the blow. Two years since the last instalment, Bang 3 was due for release on August 18th and signals the fourth mix tape released by the Chicago rapper since being dropped by his label, Interscope, last year. At a time where due dates from albums and singles is almost entirely redundant (we’re looking at YOU Frank Ocean), it’s a nice surprise when something comes even a couple weeks early.
Superheroes featuring A$AP Rocky and Aint Missing You with Jenn Em stand out from the usual fare about blazing up and living tough in Chiraq, but even at its most predictable, Bang 3 is a lot of fun.The latter pays tribute to Keef’s late cousin Big Glo with a take on John Waite’s (and later Tina Turner’s) heartfelt ballad. Mac Miller also features as a guest on the album.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckONNN_RO6U]
The mixtape comes at a busy time for Keef, who recently clashed with the local mayor and declared he would run for office himself. You can head here to get behind the nineteen year old rapper and stream all fifteen tracks in full.