Exploring the Success of Chicago Rappers: Juice WRLD, Chief Keef, & More
If you didn't know by now, Chicago is home to many successful rap artists such as Kanye West, Juice WRLD, Chance the Rapper, Lil Durk, and more. But as we see in Kanye’s ‘jeen-yuhs’ documentary, it did not start this way. Now that the hip-hop game has changed within the past two decades, we've seen emerging rap artists from Chicago taking over the industry with a new sound, inspiring each other by growing voices in the community.
Reflecting on all its success, the development of new music styles and artists gave Chicago a whole new meaning. Here are some of the faces admired by the people of Chicago that contributed to the progression of hip-hop music.
Drill Music
Dated back to the early 2010s, the telling violence in Chicago illustrated a subgenre of trap music known as drill. Chicago rappers Chief Keef and King Louie were the main contributors to the rise of this style of music, creating its notorious reputation there. The sound of drill allowed artists to express their pain and trauma sonically residing with a destructive story often affiliated with gang violence—a culture more than a rhythm.
Source: Rolling Stone
At the age of 16, Chief Keef was making a name for himself in Chicago. He eventually signed to Interscope Records, and when his debut album Finally Rich came out in 2012, “Love Sosa” became his first hit single, paving a spotlight for drill music. From then on, many artists on the rise from Chicago started to gain recognition in the music industry.
faces of chicago hip-hop
Source: Mirror
Juice WRLD
In the fleeting life of Juice WRLD, he started out his career as a SoundCloud artist by the name of ‘juicethekidd.’ Unlike other Chicago artists, he was particularly inspired by rock music, which later influenced his own. As many fans know, unfortunately, his death was led by his greatest struggle, dealing with mental health and substance abuse. This induced emotional vulnerability in his songs, becoming one of the ideal emo/alternative rap artists to have come from Chicago.
Source: Music Fest News
Polo G
At the age of 23, Polo G started his journey in his late teens writing songs in Cook County Jail—serving two months. In his music, he tells a story of what it's like to be young in the city of Chicago and facing the horrors of violence and poverty. With his hit singles “Finer Things” and “Pop Out,” he started to gain a fan base with music that encompasses a mix of melodic rap and drill music. In his latest album, Hall of Fame 2.0, he worked with coveted artists such as Lil Baby, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and more.
Source: Twitter
G Herbo
Dropping out of high school at the age of 16 to pursue his career, G Herbo currently has 10 albums: five mixtapes, one collaborative album with Southside, and four studio albums. His music is prevalently drill, being one of the most successful artists in the genre—and out of Chicago. Throughout his discography, he was able to work with other rappers such as Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, and native rapper Lil Bibby.
Source: Billboard
Lil Durk
Popular in the drill scene, Lil Durk is undoubtedly a fan favorite in Chicago music. Born and raised in the South Side, Durk was driven by the gang and street violence that he endured all his life. He and Chief Keef became an inspiration to other Chicago artists, being that they were the main faces in drill when it first started. He has a record label collective named Only the Family (OTF) that signed the late Chicago artist King Von, his longtime friend.
Source: Bloomberg
Kanye West
Ye, or Kanye West, is easily depicted as one of the most influential and successful artists of our time now. Kanye's journey in the music industry has been nothing short of prodigious. At the start of his career, it was clear the love he had for the city. His style of music took a whole different approach in Chicago hip-hop, bringing a spotlight to the music style ‘chipmunk soul.’ His spoken words paved a meaningful perspective of the city in a whole different way. Through the surge of his success, Chicagoans only hope he doesn't lose touch with the city he came from.
Similar to Atlanta and New York’s success in the hip-hop scene, the rise of fame from these artists enabled an undeniable significance that has grown to be noticed globally. With warranted recognition, these big names in the industry granted Chicago a spotlight in the creative industry.
From Kanye’s poetic and soulful production to Chief Keef's influential drill music, this playlist encloses the evolution of Chicago rap from the early 2000s to the success that it is now.
Who is your favorite Chicago rapper? Leave a comment below.