Four years ago Rhymefest, aka Che Smith, seemed poised to be Chicago’s next breakout hip-hop artist. A nimble lyricist with a sharp wit coloring his conscious streak, he’d shared a Grammy with Kanye in 2005 for cowriting “Jesus Walks,” and he was scheduled to release his first proper album,Blue Collar
They were fixing things up around here for the Olympics and were going to gentrify the area. I just wonder: How do we get so much money for an Olympic bid, for this Olympic committee, but there is no money for teachers? How is there money for all these new police trucks, money for assault rifles, when we don’t even have enough police in the city? . . .
I have made and spent a lot of money, and I would’ve been better off if I had invested in my community—rather than in myself.I was thinking about Robin Hood. Thinking about the concept of taking something from [J Records exec] Clive Davis and giving it to the single mom with two kids who doesn’t have a fresh grocery store in her hood, so she shops at the gas station. So instead of buying a Cadillac Escalade, I should’ve set up someplace with fresh fruit and veggies.