The late Lil Keis is one of the most important figures in the entire history of St.Pete Hip Hop, his 2009 mixtape “Turn Me Up” is an undiscovered gem to many in the scene so Jit had to shed some light on it and the legend that gave me my start. Lil Keis on da beat boiiii!!!!
Whether it’s from his immortal “Wonton Soup” beat for Lil B or pretty much being the foundation for many of us who are still keeping this shit going as the head honcho of Paper Chasers ENT, which I actually was a member of the PCE street team. At the time if you wasn’t affiliated with Local, So Excited Ent, Kid Killa, or Hussch Boy you really wasn’t doing shit in the city. Everybody was on Paper Chasers back in the day from Keis’s brother Yung Choppa, to the OG BTMVLE Jotta who at the time went by Gata, shit we even had a magician rapper on the team Mentalv.
“Turn Me Up” starts out with one of my favorite intros of all time with Keis shouting out all the homies and everyone that has showed him love so far, pretty sure all the beats except the freestyles are made by the man himself.
The “Ain’t I Freestyle” featuring Lowkey Riez is actually better than the original version with Keis going crazy on the beat, Riez talks that shit on the end making it for than a freestyle.
I would say Keis’s biggest song possibly as strictly an MC is “Cash On Me” I remember when this shit dropped way back in the day we knew it was the anthem. This along with that “Top Drop” song featuring Gata & Choppa are low key my fav PCE songs. Man I wish we had a video for this one its definitely a classic track.
It’s always a problem Ikonz and Paper Chasers Ent come together on “Hit Da Club” and “Killa Remix”. The “Hit Da Club” is that turn up shit and back in the day Mah Cita was the hottest female MC in the city. The “Killa remix” is a standout for me with Keis brining one of his best verses on the project, especially that “I’m great” line.
“I Got Swag” was for sure one of the realest signs to come out in 09. This along with “Cash On Me” shows Keis ability when it came to making them hits. You know if this shit went off in the club back in the day, the city would have went brazy.
“Hustle” might be my favorite beat on the project, with Keis bringing that triumphant shit. This one is about Keis’s grind and hustle in the rap game and how he’s made it from the top after coming all the way from the bottom.
“Sit Back” and “Take U There” reminds me of some Kodak Shit but definitely way ahead of his time. This track definitely proves Keis has some versatility as an artist. Def would have been interesting to see if Keis would go on to make tracks similar to this one.
Hands down the hardest track on the project is “Money Talking” featuring Gata aka BTMVLE Jotta and Yung Choppa. From the beat to the hook by Jot, to how all the MCs snap on this one. This is the definition of that Paper Chasers ENT shit. I would have loved to see a big PCE compilation project but the scene was still in its infancy at the time. Yung Choppa always been nice on a track and he’s still doing his thing to this day.
At the time Keis was pushing “Cleaner Dan A Whistle” and “Do It Big” as some of his bigger songs, especially the latter having that Johnny Juliano. These tracks are very nostalgic for me and show just how big of a star Keis was destined to be.
Just wanted to thank the legend for everything he has done for the Jit and the entire St.Pete Hip Hop community, shit if it wasn’t for him who knows where Lil B would be at. Check out the project on Datpiff, R.I.P. to the legend 🏕💯💰🏃💨.