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Larry Jackson, a music industry veteran who has worked for RCA, J Records, and Interscope over the years, says Chief Keef was on an FBI watchlist when he first signed him. He recalled the decision to partner with the Chicago rapper during a recent interview on The New York Times’ Popcast.
“This is the first time I’ve ever told this story,” Jackson began. "But it was getting a call from a friend of mine who was in touch with the FBI, who told me that this kid was on a watchlist, who then subsequently called me back and told me there was a $50,000 hit out on this kid, and you may want to do something about it. That’s not a job from a traditional, vocational perspective of an A&R executive. That wasn’t in an A&R class."
Chief Keef Performs During Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash Festival
From there, he explained that Chief Keef later found himself in some legal trouble. “I personally wrote a letter to the judge,” Jackson continued. “My letter was effective and persuasive. It kept him out of jail... I kind of stepped up in a father figure role ... This was so much deeper in terms of a vision for, not just the music, for his life. And we're close to this day still because of that. And my achievement with respect to signing him, 'Finally Rich,' to me, which came out I think in 2012, really established drill, established what music is today for rap." He eventually concluded: "The most important thing to me is that he's still alive and not in prison. That, to me, is A&R."
Larry Jackson Reflects On Chief Keef's Career
Interscope famously signed Chief Keef for $6 million in the summer of 2012. He dropped Finally Rich as his debut studio album, later that year. It featured several hits including "I Don't Like", "Love Sosa," and "Hate Bein' Sober." Check out Larry Jackson's full comments on signing Chief Keef below.
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