Chief Keef was remarkably quiet for 2016, but he promised war on the newer “coloured-hair” rappers who have been blowing up recently, stating in concert that he was coming for them in 2017. He decided to start his return as soon as possible.

Keef’s new appropriately-titled Two Zero One Seven mixtape is a 17-track affair, with most of the production coming from Keef himself (plus Lex Luger, Young Chop, and Leekeleek). Frequent collaborator and Glogang member Tadoe makes three appearances as the only featured artist. It’s Keef’s first release since 2015’s Finally Rollin 2, but you wouldn’t know the drill pioneer had taken nearly a year off: the 21-year old rapper hasn’t lost a beat, and it’s one of his most consistent albums in a long time.

The choice of dropping Two Zero One Seven on New Years Day has particular importance to Keef’s career: as pointed out by Andrew Barber (of influential Chicago rap publication Fake Shore Drive), January 1st, 2017 marks the five year anniversary of the viral video that launched Chief Keef from underground local sensation to mainstream star.

Five years after Lil Boy freaked out when he learned Keef got out of jail, Chief Keef has grown into one of his city’s biggest heroes, a symbol of defiance and seizing opportunity. 2017 is poised to be Keef’s comeback year, and I’m just hoping we get that Chance collab that was promised in “Angels”.