Hi, everyone, BBL Tony here, the internet's busiest music nerd.

It's time for a review of this new Chief Keef album, Almighty So 2. This is the newest full-length LP from Chicago native, rapper, producer, songwriter, Mr. Chief Keef.

Rather than going right into the review, let's rewind and find out who is Chief Keef? What is his deal? How did he become so Almighty? Are there things he doesn't like? While he may not be churning out many hits today, believe it or not, Chief Keef legitimately changed the face of hip hop as we know it over the past 10 years.

Now, of course, he did not do this alone. I could digress and dive into the network of artists Keef came up with in the city of Chicago. Also go into his Glory Boyz Entertainment label. We could also talk about how pivotal producer Young Chop was in him honing his sound, or how Kanye West's Good Music remix of Keef's single, "I Don't Like," pretty much blew him up out of the mixtape circuit or the way music writers and the industry at large blew him up into the next big rap phenomenon not too soon after.

But to simplify it, what I will say is that Chief Keef is pretty much the artist when it comes to the blunt, violent, trap subgenre known as Chicago Drill, a style whose time in the limelight has most definitely crested, but its influence can still be felt today through either the direct inspiration that it had on a new generation of very raw, in your face, rappers and producers that blew up on the SoundCloud platform in the mid-2010s, or with the gradual domino effect we've seen with all these various regional drill styles across America and the world. It eventually made its way over to the UK and then circled right back over to Brooklyn with a totally different production style.

So it's worth asking, do we even get Ice Spice's "Munch" without "I Don't Like?" Probably not. Which is funny to think of because it's not like Keef had the most explosive commercial run after blowing up, which is not surprising when you think of the greater context of Keef and drill music in general. Because one, this dude blew up when he was incredibly young. He wasn't an industry plant, and it was pretty obvious early on that he was not prepared for the attention and pressures that instant fame would bring him. As there have been numerous concerts over the years that he was just a no-show for. There was also the infamous music video shoot for his single, "Hate Being Sober", featuring Whiz Khalifa and 50 Cent that he just didn't go to.

Drill Music, while it's had its moments in the limelight, its bass characteristics and subject matter aren't exactly marketable. Chicago Drill, especially, is absolutely, positively not pop. And if you do anything with it that veers in that direction, inevitably, you're going to get something watered down. I mean, as much as many fans continue to stand by Keef's commercial debut album, Finally Rich, many of the beats on that record, in my opinion, don't really work for him stylistically. Not to mention there's so many features on there that feel like they're there just for numbers' sake.

Looking at Keef's entire catalog, his best work really came toward the beginning of his career, during his early mixtape run before he blew up for the most part. Bang, Bang 2, Back from the Dead, Almighty So as well, which the title of this new project is calling back to, which I think is respectable because I think right now things are coming full circle for Keef in his music and his life, as Keef's early mixtapes very much represent an era of inexperienced but free creativity, where there wasn't any pressure for him to do anything other than what he wanted to. I think he slowly reached that point once again with a lot of his most recent projects.

Now, truth be told, I'm not really a huge fan of many of the albums and mixtapes Keef came through with immediately after reaching commercial success. But over the years, he's further distanced himself from the music industry, taken on more production duties in his own stuff, built a new life for himself outside of Chicago, too. And he's put a lot of effort and focus into getting to a place where he has total control over the making of his music from start to finish, which has allowed him to operate from a place where he clearly doesn't care about standards, practices, expectations. Be that on the bumping bright and very synthie collab album, GloToven, or his attempt at chasing after more sexual, flirty, and pop-centric vibes on Thoughtbreaker. And let's also not forget the very raw and wild Phonem, which I think is his best project so far when it comes to his recent stuff. And that doesn't even cover everything he has been up to lately.

Almighty So 2, is the most talked about record Keef has put out in a while, as he has been teasing toward the release of this thing for a minute. Lke I said, it does call back title-wise to that early mixtape era. But this thing really feels like a sequel in name and in name only, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I think Keef has come too far artistically to regress at this point and just do an older version of himself on record, especially since trying to relive past glories on the recent Back From The Dead 3 mixtape yielded mixed results anyway and bad song mixes, too. Almighty So 2, in contrast, is a big and varied album that is a pure distillation of current day Keef doing whatever the heck it is he wants to do.

However, the freedom to do anything doesn't necessarily mean that you have the ability to do anything, which I think is the core issue with this project, by comparison, was a lot more one-dimensional, rough around the edges. However, that project played to its strengths. It knew what it did best, and it didn't overstay its welcome either. Many of the more aggressive, to the point, and over the top spots on the record still went off. Almighty So 2 is a bit longer and a bit more over extended, and also showing us that sequencing longer records isn't necessarily his strong suit.

I mean, for sure, the entire thing kicks off well enough with cuts such as Almighty, as well as "Neph Nem" featuring G Herbo. And these are over the top drill cuts with pumping kicks, snares going off like automatic rifles, and wild sample chops to bits of opera and falling pianos. It's hectic, a little unorthodox, but it works in a way that feels specific to Keef.

But the record starts to run short of breath pretty quickly as we hit the song "Treat Myself," where Keef's shouty one-dimensional flows have very little breath control, not to mention his juvenile bars get tiresome after a while, especially over this very smooth and dramatic beat that doesn't exactly fit tone of his bars. The mushy synthesizers, too, on the beat aren't exactly incredible. I wouldn't say the song is awful or anything like that, but it's not blowing me away either.

From here, we get a skit that loses its appeal a minute in. And "Jesus," while I do think there is potential in this track, it starts off pretty strong. I have no idea what Keef was thinking in the second half, taking this verse, soaking it in too much reverb, and layering it with a bunch of pitched chorus vocals that make it sound totally unintelligible. It's slop, which is a shame because I think the energy is there, the intention is there, the production is there. But Keef sometimes will fall flat on his face when it comes to nailing the finer details of how these songs are mixed and assembled.

The song "Too Trim," I think, is pretty average by his standards, but things do pick up on the song "Runner," though, where I love how his producer brain causes him to aggressively clash these soul chops and totally insane, super busy trap instrumentals where the math doesn't necessarily math, but it still sounds exciting anyway. There's a lyrical focus on the track as well, where Keef is very much reminiscing on his younger years, going wild in the streets.

From here, we are on a winning streak with the song "Banded Up" featuring Tierra Whack, which is a little repetitive, but it is an ear worm all the same. Tierra's verse on the song is the best feature by several miles, hands down. Meanwhile, "Grape Trees" featuring Sexyy Red is another highlight on the record. And whether haters want to acknowledge it or not, I think she's one of the few super modern artists out there that is really a torch bearer for Keef's energy and vibe. Because, I mean, listen to these two on this track. They are both similarly chaotic. They have 'Don't Give A Fuck' energy. They write similarly preposterous, offensive, ridiculous bars. Keef saying stuff like, 'I'm never getting married / what is a groom?' Or Sexyy saying that she would never go out with a guy if he has ugly shoes. The vocal mixes on the track are also wildly different for some reason, but at least the song is explosive, weird and fun. I could actually listen to a whole tape or EP of these two working together.

The song "1,2,3" is really the last incredible banger that the album has to offer. And then from here, we go into a mixed final leg where we don't get any terrible tracks, but quite a few I feel like I could take or leave like "Prince Charming." Also, "Tony Montana Flow," where Keef is doing a bit of a Scarface, silly guy flow impression, whatever the heck he thinks he's doing. It's very weird, and I appreciate him for it. I mean, he could have switched it up and wrote a bang and hook for it as well, but it stands out. It's cheeky.

"Racks Stuffed in a Couch" while I appreciate the energy and the rawness of this track. It's weird for an ending moment on the project. This is really something that could have landed somewhere in the middle of the record. I think, spiritually, the real finish of the album could have been "Believe," which is this six-minute introspective track, which, despite lacking in some real lyrical flair, does get across some serious emotions and showcases some honest to God growth for Keef, relaying experiences and personal worries that I don't think he's really gotten across on previous tracks, not to this degree. It's the thing I hope he doesn't shy away from doing in the future. As far as getting, again, an introspective moment out there, I hope it's a track that the fans pay close attention to.

My overall thoughts on this record is that it's difficult to have an overall thought on this record as it's not very focused. There's not a whole lot of direction to it, but looking at it on the whole, there are quite a few hard-hitting, very odd, very weird highlights that I appreciate a lot. However, though, there is a chunk of the record where I think Keef's lack of versatility, his lyrical tact, especially during this one bar where he's in a very cavalier way, talking about getting essayed.

Obviously, being unpolished is one of this project's biggest selling points, but simultaneously, Keef's lack of maturity on numerous fronts does come around to bite him. However, slowly over time, and you can hear it in his art, he is moving past this period of arrested development, and I hope that continues to be the case, even if it results in albums that are a little bloated like this one. I'm feeling a light seven on this thing.

Anthony Fantano, Chief Keef of Forever.