CHICAGO — Rahm Emanuel knows a thing or two about having to prove his residency to run for mayor after his stint as President Barack Obama's chief of staff nearly cost him a chance to be Chicago's mayor four years ago.
So he has some advice for rapper Chief Keef, who this week declared he's running for mayor of Chicago.
When asked, tongue in cheek, by a reporter if he was worried about a Chief challenge, Emanuel replied:
"My unsolicited advice would be think fast and hard about the residency requirement, as somebody with experience with it," Emanuel joked, drawing chuckles.
Emanuel had to battle to prove he lived in his North Side home in the leadup to his first election in 2011. He had rented the home out while serving Obama in Washington, D.C., Many court appearance later, Emanuel was ruled to be a legit Chicagoan. He has gone on to win two mayoral elections.
Chief Keef grew up on the South Side, but has been living in California after a series of run-ins with law enforcement in the past two years.
Chief Keef, whose real name is Keith Cozart, is in a feud with Emanuel. The rapper offered to stage a benefit concert for a toddler who was run over and killed following the murder of Chief Keef's friend, local rapper Marvin "Capo" Carr, earlier this summer.
The mayor reportedly nixed the concert, forcing the rapper to try to hold it in Hammond, Ind.— via hologram. Hammond's mayor then had police literally pull the plug mid-concert, cutting the power to the hologram.
Mark Konkol says Chief Keef's concert shouldn't have been shut down:
After that concert, the 19-year-old rapper and CEO of Glo Gang announced via Twitter he's coming for Rahm Emanuel's seat as the mayor of his hometown.
I'm running for mayor of Chicago..... Vote for me!!!! It'll be the best thing done yet!!!!! Yall gonna love me in the Office.....
— AlmightySo (@ChiefKeef) July 27, 2015Apparently, some people are on board. The announcement was retweeted 10,000 times. Keef would need a little more support to get to the 12,500 valid signatures to land on the mayoral ballot though.
Earlier this month, Glo Gang member Capo was fatally shot on the South Side leading to a police chase, which ended in a crash that killed an infant child. The driver allegedly shot the rapper before fatally striking 13-month-old Dillan Harris.
After the incident, Keef said he would hold a fundraiser for Dillan, which was met with a lot of political opposition citing his violent lyrics.
Hours after the tweet, Almighty Sosa posted what we'll have to assume is his first political poster on Instagram with the caption "Sosa 4 Mayor."
If Keef does decide to get into politics, he'll have to wait for a seat in Chicago. Emanuel just secured his seat for another four years.
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