Chief Keef Was On An FBI Watchlist While Carrying a $50,000 Bounty On His Head, Gamma CEO Reveals

Chief Keef was once on an FBI watchlist with a $50,000 bounty on his head while he was still a teenager, former Interscope exec Larry Jackson reveals.

Rapper and producer Chief Keef was once on an FBI watchlist with a $50,000 bounty placed on his head while he was still a teenager, according to music industry executive Larry Jackson. Speaking with The New York Times’ Popcast, former Interscope exec Jackson, who now runs the music and media company gamma., revealed there were significant threats to Keef’s life when Interscope signed him in 2012.

“This is the first time I’ve ever told this story, but I was getting a call from a friend of mine who was in touch with the FBI,” said Jackson. “He told me that this kid [Chief Keef] was on a watchlist. He told me that there is a $50,000 hit out on this kid and you may want to do something about it.”

“That’s not the traditional, vocational perspective of an A&R executive,” Jackson continued with a laugh. “He had gotten into some trouble. I personally wrote a letter to the judge. My letter was effective and persuasive; it kept him out of jail.”

“I kinda stepped up in a ‘father figure’ role. So it’s so much deeper than, ‘Yeah, lemme sign this guy because everybody wants him, he has a bidding war.’ No, this was so much deeper in terms of a vision — for not just the music but for his life. And we’re still close to this day because of that,” he concluded.

Interscope/UMG signed Chief Keef in a $6 million deal during the summer of 2012, after the breakout success of his drill hit, “I Don’t Like.” He released his debut album, Finally Rich, through the label later that year, but was dropped from the company just two years later over legal issues.

The 29-year-old Chicago native was last arrested in 2017 for possession of cannabis in South Dakota. But he’s been staying out of legal trouble for the past few years — and outside of his native Chicago.

As a teenager, Chief Keef, whose real name is Keith Farrelle Cozart, faced extensive legal troubles starting in 2011. He was arrested for heroin manufacture and distribution, and served house arrest after being tried as a minor.

At 16, Chief Keef was involved in a shootout with police in which he fired a gun at polices officers, who fired back but missed. That incident saw him apprehended and charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm on a police officer, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He spent four weeks in a detention center as a result.