Bang 3 by Chief Keef

Chicago based rap artist Chief Keef has already accomplished in his four year career what most rappers spend their lifetime trying to do. Regardless of how you feel about the music he's released, his popularity and success are both undeniable. While most wrote him off as a gimmick rapper that would fade over time, the man also known as Sosa has proven that he plans to stay relevant for a long time to come. 

While the Glo Gang affiliated artist signed with Interscope back in 2013, he was dropped from the label just a year later at the end of 2014. Due to that, as well as some personal issues, Chief Keef's third studio album Bang 3 was delayed multiple times. However, on August 3rd, the long awaited project finally saw the light of day. 

Going into this album, I knew exactly what to expect of Chief Keef. He isn't a lyrical rapper, and his beat selection isn't anything special in comparison to the rest of the trap scene. However, what the Chicago native does do exceptionally well, is deliver ridiculously catchy hooks on a very consistent basis. While at times they can be over the top, and completely irrelevant to the theme of the song, it's hard to stop yourself from singing along. After all, it was songs with these elements like I Don't Like, Love Sosa, and Hate Being Sober, that contributed to Keef's rise to fame back in 2012. 

On his newest project, Keef hosts features from A$AP Mob member A$AP Rocky as well as Pittsburgh based emcee Mac Miller, both of whom are very surprising and welcome guests to the track listing. We also seen an appearance from singer Jenn Em on the track Ain't Missing You, a track with alternative-pop influence that samples John Waite's track Missing You. It was released back in early July, and was dedicated to Sosa's cousin and fellow Glo Boys affiliate Blood Money, who died in April of 2014. While it was definitely one of the weaker cuts on the album, seeing Keef experiment with his sound definitely made for an entertaining listen. 

Aside from that track, the album contains much of the same "Chiraq" style Chief Keef cuts that fans of the rapper are used to. We even see a few more of his self produced beats pop up in the track listing on tracks like Sing To The Cheese, Greenlight, and Go Harder. 

For the most part, the album is filled with middle of the road, decent trap and drill beats, which all feature Keef rapping mediocrely. That is, save for two tracks, Laurel Canyon, and Superheroes, which I personally feel stand out as two of the better tracks in his discography so far. 

A tad underwhelming, Bang 3 fails to stand out as a good project in a year filled with some exceptional hip-hop releases, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. It's an LP that is at times both entertaining and fun, but also can border on being boring and and overly silly. It seems as if a little bit too much of the track listing would fit better on one of Keef's mixtapes than on a full-length release. If there's any advice Sosa should take going into his next project, it's that quality is always more important quantity.

Rating: C

Favorite Tracks: Laurel Canyon, Cappin', Superheros

Least Favorite Tracks: Singing To The Cheese, Ain't Missing You, Yes