When O-block and Japan collide – DJ Kenn and Chief Keef
When mentioning Chief Keef, Japan is the last thing many people would associate with this rapper. But a producer by the name of DJ Kenn is an integral part of Chief Keef’s career and he is one of the few, if not the only person from Japan that has had a substantial influence on the current U.S hip-hop scene.
Iconic tracks such as “Bang” and the “3hunna” video were produced by DJ Kenn in the earlier stages of Chief Keef’s career which led to his rise to fame.
DJ Kenn was born in Yamagata prefecture and his first introduction to hip hop was through Nas’s “Stillmatic” [2001] which he describes as “Insane” and led to his obsession with the genre. At that time, the hip-hop scene in yamagata was non-existent, but he didn't have any desire to go abroad to the U.S yet.
It wasn't until he was 20 years old when he would decide to go study abroad in New York which he later then moved to Chicago. When he was looking for a place to stay in Chicago, he would eventually run into Big Keef, aka Chief Keef’s Uncle while taking his pitbull for a walk. Big Keef would provide DJ Kenn with a place to stay which led to him meeting Chief Keef.
Since Kenn had a desire to make beats and Chief Keef was just getting into rap at the time, everything clicked and they started working together. Even back then, he saw the star potential in Chief Keef. This led to the release of “Mulah Express” in 2010, then the release of “Bang!” in 2011, which went viral after the release of its music video which featured Kenn’s Studio and his dog as well.
From this point forward, Kenn became less involved with Chief Keef and his music as his career took off. Although their careers went on to separate paths, Kenn still worked with the late Fredo Santana and other members of the extended GBE family. In addition to this, he has worked with people in the Japanese Hip-hop scene such as SEEDA, Tohji, Fuji Taito and DJ ISSO in recent years, despite still being based in Chicago.
