Credit: Spotify

Chief Keef’s rise to hip-hop royalty came early, while he was in fact a teenager, and key to his early success was an unshakeable sense of self-confidence, which he was not remotely afraid to flaunt.

The young man knew he was good and was entirely at ease with saying so, which became obvious to anyone who read an interview he gave to Complex in 2012, while he was just 17. Listing his favourite songs of all time during the conversation, it became very clear that this teenage drill prodigy thought rather a lot about his own musical output.

When asked to list his top 25 tracks, the young rapper’s response was fairly jarring. But things began quite nicely, with Keef, otherwise known as ‘Sosa’, mentioning Gucci Mane, as a fellow rapper he looked up to. Unable to select only one of Mane’s tracks to add to his list, Keef mentioned his “entire back catalogue”, which is a nice enough gesture. He clearly admired Gucci’s artistry, and they would, in fact, later work together on the collaborative mixtape Big Gucci Sosa, released in 2014. So far, so nice.

The young Chief admitted, “Everything Gucci, everything. ‘My Kitchen’. My favourite Gucci Mane song is ‘Spanish Plug’. Favourite tape, uhhh… Gucci Sosa”. That reference to Gucci Sosa, Gucci Mane’s mixtape from 2008, is quite telling, because it was where Keef took his ‘Sosa’ nickname and persona. At the very least, it was good of him to shout out Mane as one of his favourite artists.

By this early point in the list, one might reasonably expect some interesting selections to come. It can be very fun and instructive to learn about the music that inspired our favourite artists, and it can even lead us to discover music we’ve never previously heard ourselves. But, for anyone hoping to experience that here, there’s no such luck. Gucci Mane was about as far-reaching as Chief Keef’s list went. Literally everything else, number 24 all the way to number one, was lifted from his own back catalogue. He just really loved his own sound.

In other interviews, Sosa has mentioned some of the other artists besides Gucci Mane and himself that have inspired him. When asked by Snoop Dogg, of all people, what three projects he’d most like to listen to if he were stranded on an island, the then 22-year-old replied with Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter and Dedication 3, proving that his rap influences are wider than just Mane. But, still, even here he managed to big himself up. His third selection was his own debut album, Finally Rich. He’d be perfectly happy to just sit in the sun and listen to his own songs, waiting for rescue to come.

These interviews were a long time ago now, particularly the Complex one. Chief Keef is 30 years old these days, so who’s to say what sort of music he’s listening to at the moment. There’s every chance that his top 25 track list would look very different now than it did in 2012, but maybe it would just be filled with songs he’s released since then. Someone should ask him. But, for now, here’s his list, compiled as a 17-year-old who was feeling particularly good about all the music he’d been putting out.

Chief Keef’s favourite Chief Keef songs:

• Chief Keef – ‘Kush With Them Beans’
• Chief Keef – ‘Save That Shit’
• Chief Keef – ‘Everyday’
• Chief Keef ft Johnny Maycash – ‘Trust None’
• Chief Keef – ‘Designer’
• Chief Keef – ‘I Don’t Know Dem’
• Chief Keef ft Yale Lucciani – ‘True Religion Fein’
• Chief Keef ft King Louie – ‘Winnin’’
• Chief Keef ft SD – ‘My N—s’
• Chief Keef – ‘Sosa’
• Chief Keef – ‘Monster’
• Chief Keef – ‘Finally Rich’
• Chief Keef ft Rick Ross – ‘3Hunna’
• Chief Keef ft Young Jeezy – ‘Understand Me’
• Chief Keef – ‘Ballin’’
• Chief Keef ft French Montana – ‘Diamonds’
• Chief Keef – ‘Laughin’ to the Bank’
• Chief Keef – ‘Kay Kay’
• Chief Keef ft 50 Cent & Wiz Khalifa – ‘Hate Bein’ Sober’
• Chief Keef – ‘No Tomorrow’
• Chief Keef ft Lil Reese – ‘I Don’t Like’
• Chief Keef – ‘Hallelujah’
• Chief Keef – ‘Kobe’
• Chief Keef – ‘Love Sosa’