Chief Keef – “Ain’t Missing You” (Feat Jenn Em) Video

This weekend, Chicago’s foremost rap site Fake Shore Drive posted a marvelous thing: Chief Keef interpolating John Waite’s classic ’80s country-slash-pop gem “Ain’t Missing You.” My personal favorite version — before this one — is the Alison Krauss duet with Waite that appeared on A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection. That means there’s only one degree of separation between Krauss and Keef right now — 2015 is a beautiful year. Anyway, there’s also a pretty famous Tina Turner version of this song, and Brooks & Dunn one, so Keef is in great company here. 

It’s refreshing to hear him get this melodic, and though the song is technically sad, there’s an undercurrent of exuberance through the sorrow that’s particularly Keefian. The memories he’s recalling are happy ones, even as he mourns. It’s like a triple think because the song hinges on a denial of the obvious — it obviously really about missing someone at its core. Keef brings it back to that place even while keeping the denial intact via the hook. No clue how people think this guy isn’t a genius. Anyway, he’s released a video for the track today and dedicated it to Big Glo, his cousin who was fatally shot last year. The song features Jenn Em on vocals and was produced by the Animaniacs. It will be on his forthcoming mixtape Bang 3. W