Chief Keef Leaves Twitter

Chief Keef is trying to smooth over the backlash that is still swirling after his dismissive tweets regarding the tragic murder of fellow teenage Chicago rapper, Lil JoJo. Keef insists that the tweets, which seemed to mock JoJo's death, were the result of his account being hacked.

He also insisted that he nor his affiliates had anything to do with the killing.

"Man, been thinkin bout this chicago street sh*t a lot. My prayers go out 2 Jojo's family on their loss," he stated in a new series of tweets that were subsequently deleted. "I didn't know him but he young jus like me. i can assure everyone that i had nothin 2 do with this tragedy tho. my twitter acct was hacked."

"My prayers go out to jojo's family on their loss. He was young like me, out there trying to get it," he added.

He also indicated that he wouldn't be tweeting in the near future.

"I appreciate music, so I'm going to focus on that and sign off of Twitter I won't have anything to say until my album drop 11/27 #R.I.Pjojo," Chief Keef tweeted. "i got a LOTTA sh*t 2 say but this aint da place...my music is. i love chicago & i wanna make this sh*t big for us! tell our story. #300"

"Since i was put in a messed up spot i think that i finna sign off this twitter sh*t for awhile or at least til my album drops on 11/27" he added. "Album comin 11/27..maybe sooner. fredo gbe mixtape comin soon 2."

Rhymefest Blasts Chief Keef

Rhymefest posted a fiery message on his blog taking aim at fellow Chicago rapper Chief Keef and the music industry as a whole. Fest blasted the young rhymer for perpetuating an image that negatively affects Black youth in Chicago and feeds into stereotypes.

"Chief Keef is a "Bomb", he represents the senseless savagery that white people see when the news speaks of Chicago violence. A Bomb has no responsibility or blame, it does what it was created to do; DESTROY! Notice, no one is talking about the real culprits, the Bomb maker or the pilot who is deploying this deadly force (Labels, Radio Stations). Its easier to blame the bomb. Bombs are not chosen for their individual talents, they are tools used for collateral damage. To think of the persona of Chief Keef as a person would be the first mistake, he will more then likely come and go without us knowing much of anything about his personal pains, struggles, great loves and ambitions beyond rap. He is a spokesman for the Prison Industrial Complex. Every corporation is expected to grow at least 4% each quarter, many prisons are privately owned with stock being traded on the open market. If these corporations were to do commercials, jingles and promotions who would they hire? You got it, most of the main stream rappers we salivate over like Rick Ross the former correctional officer turned Drug Lord Boss rapper. Waka Flocka Flame gang bang "GO HARD IN THE PAINT" and Chief Keef the newest lottery pick in the "Get paid to destroy young minds, like we destroyed yours" Sweepstakes."

"Many people will say 'Chief Keef is a young black man making money who wouldn't have had any other opportunity, why isn't this a good thing?". Which brings us back to the question, who is bank rolling this operation and why? This could only be described as an opportunity for this young man if he was receiving artist development, responsible mentorship and counseling for his obvious trauma. By the way, Major Record labels always put million dollar life insurance policies on artist of this nature so that they get paid one way or the other. My suggestion to the rest of us who would love to see the mushroom cloud from this explosion, BE CAUTIOUS! The affects from this type of Bomb can last for centuries. Lets stop giving our intellectual power resources and admiration to destructive forces while ignoring and starving out the good that is being done,sung and rapped about by artist like Killer Mike, Lupe Fiasco, RhymeFest, Dead Prez, Brother ALI, Maimouna Yusef, Invincible, Jean Grey, Mikkey Halsted etc."

T.I. Endorses Chief Keef Signing

T.I. had nothing but praise and congratulations upon learning of Chicago rapper Chief Keef signing with Interscope. The Grand Hustle head had lobbied hard for Keef to join his imprint, but felt that Keef did whatever he felt was best for his situation.

"Chief Keef, I feel like he represents a part of America," T.I. told MTV News. "He represents a part of the youth in America that ain't really got a voice right now. We looking at 'em, and we're seeing the results of their actions, but we ain't really listening to 'em, and I think you gotta have a representative of each generation in order to understand what they dealing with."

"The opportunity existed, but I never put my own personal wishes before the best interest of the next person," T.I. said. "I'm just happy that he's able to do whatever's best for him and his family and to move forward as a person and to progress in life. As long as he's doing that, I'm happy."

Chief Keef Signs With Interscope

Just prior to taking the stage at Atlanta's Birthday Bash, rapper Chief Keef inked a record deal with Interscope Records. The teenage rapper from Chicago had been wooed heavily by several hip hop labels, most notably Cash Money Records and T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint, but ultimately decided to go with Jimmy Iovine's label.

"I've been talkin' to a lot of labels, but I just noticed that Interscope got people like 50, Eminem," Keef told RapFix about the decision.

Keef was also reportedly given his own label deal for his GBE imprint and was given a multi-movie film deal with Interscope's motion picture division. The rapper also was reportedly guaranteed his own Beats By Dre signature headphone line.