Finally Rich (2012)

Finally Rich is the debut studio album by American rapper Chief Keef. It was released on December 18, 2012 by Glory Boyz Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album features guest appearances from 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Reese, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Master P, French Montana, and Fat Trel, while the bulk of its production was handled by Keef's longtime collaborator Young Chop.

The album was supported by three singles: "I Don't Like", "Love Sosa" and "Hate Bein' Sober". Upon release, the album was met with generally mixed reviews from music critics and debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 50,000 copies in the United States.

In 2022, Rolling Stone named Finally Rich the 32nd greatest hip-hop album of all time.

Background

Finally Rich was originally planned to be released as a mixtape but was later turned into a full-length album. The album was originally scheduled to be released on November 27, 2012, but it was pushed back until December 18, 2012.

Singles

"I Don't Like" featuring Lil Reese, was released as the album's lead single on March 15, 2012. The song has peaked at number 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 15 on the Rap Songs charts. It also appeared on Chief Keef's mixtape Back from the Dead, which was released for free on March 12, 2012. The mixtape was later mastered and made available for purchase on iTunes. On May 1, 2012, rapper and producer Kanye West, made a remix featuring Pusha T, Big Sean and Jadakiss. The remix is featured as the final track on the West's G.O.O.D. Music compilation album, Cruel Summer.

"Love Sosa" was released as the album's second single on October 18, 2012. The song peaked at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 17 on the Rap Songs charts. The music video for "Love Sosa" was released on October 18, 2012. It was later announced the song "Love Sosa" would be featured on the video game Grand Theft Auto V.

"Hate Bein' Sober" was released as the album's third single on December 13, 2012. The song features a guest appearances from fellow rappers 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa. The song peaked on the US Billboard Heatseekers Songs at number 16.

Other songs

On January 18, 2012, the music video was released for the song 3Hunna. On September 21, 2012, the music video was released for the song "Ballin'". On November 10, 2012, the music video was released for the bonus track "Kobe". On August 15, 2013, the music video was released for "Citgo".

Critical reception

Finally Rich received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 62, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews". while "AnyDecentMusic?" assigns to the project an aggregate score of 55 out of 100. Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times gave the album two and a half stars out of four, saying "Landing a week before the big day, the 17-year-old Chicago thug offers infectious odes to nihilism and tirades against haters that are as simple-minded and catchy as they are brutal. Musically, however, the album shimmers with power, which makes the dozen songs feel even more dangerous". Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune gave the album two stars out of four, saying "Finally Rich" owes plenty to the menacing inner-city narratives of Jeezy, Waka Flocka and Gucci Mane. Keef's innovation, if it can be called that, is to appear even colder than any of his predecessors, devoid of feelings, let alone guilt or remorse." Alex Macpherson of The Guardian gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Ha, ha, ha": 17-year-old Chicago drill rapper Chief Keef's syllables land like lead weights on concrete. Deliberately defining a song titled Laughin' to the Bank by its absence of any mirth is entirely in character for Keef, who wears his perpetual screwface like a badge of pride across Finally Rich and never once lets light in." Neil Martinez-Belkin of XXL gave the album an L, saying "“I Don't Like” still hasn't lost its appeal, and much of his debut carries the same level of replay value. So people will love it. People will hate it. Chief Keef probably doesn't care either way. He's 17, and he's finally rich."