Amidst the wildly growing violent gun crimes in Chicago, Pitchfork.tv has decided to pull the Chief Keef episode of their "Selector" video freestyle, which features the young Chi-town rapper on a gun range. This comes on the heels of authorities questions Keef's involvement in the shooting of rival Lil JoJo.
Mark Richards, Pitchfork's Editor-in-Chief has issued an apology for the locale of the video. He says they were aiming for a unique location, but in hindsight have realized the insensitivity in choosing such a spot. This all comes after veteran Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco called Chief Keef into question for promoting gun violence in such a tumultuous time in Chicago. On Twitter Keef responded with hostility towards Lupe, and appeared to relish Lil JoJo's death - Keef then said his account was hacked, but did not remove the tweets, so it is unclear if the statements were from him.
Pitchfork has issued a statement regarding their decision to remove the Chief Keef freestyle on a gun range video:
"'Selector' is a Pitchfork.tv show in which we interview rappers and watch them freestyle over beats. We often try to conduct these shows in unusual locations, and several months ago we interviewed Chief Keef at a gun range in New York City. This concept was rushed and never should have happened...but this particular episode was insensitive and irresponsible. Given recent news regarding the shooting of Chicago rapper Lil JoJo and the investigation of people involved in Chicago's rap scene, this seems like the right time to express our regrets regarding that episode. We apologize for this mistake and have removed the video from our archives."
This will be a story to continue to watch and see if Keef rescinds his statements towards Lupe, and more importantly, towards Lil JoJo's death.
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