Lil Reese, rapper involved in Chief Keef and JoJo feud, tied to video beating
BY BECKY SCHLIKERMAN Staff Reporter bschlikerman@suntimes.com October 26, 2012 8:02AM
Lil Reese in a photo from his Twitter page.
Updated: November 27, 2012 11:07AM
Lil Reese, a pal of Chicago rapper Chief Keef, is dismissing a viral video that allegedly shows him brutally beating a woman as “sum
s---” from years ago that “haters” brought to the spotlight, according to his Twitter account.
In the video, a young woman asks who let the group of young men into a home. She begins to argue with a young man and seconds later the young man, purported to be Def Jam Recordings rapper Lil Reese, gets close to the young woman and viciously starts punching her. A few seconds into the beating, she begins to shriek “wait,” her voice breaking as she begins to cry.
On the Twitter account of Lil Reese — who is 19 and whose given name is Tavares Taylor, according to a police source — a Tweet went up Thursday apparently addressing the video: “The haters tryna see a mf Dwn lol Dey gotta b broke and bored wanna upload sum s--- from years ago damnn we winnin it’s 2 late...#3hunna.”
Chicago Police are not actively investigating the beating because they don’t know who the victim is, when the incident occurred or where, according to a police source. But they have saved a version in the event it becomes an issue later.
The video, which garnered more than a million hits on the hip-hop site worldstar
hiphop.com, has spurred an online war in which opposing gangs are disrespecting Lil Reese on videos that have popped up since the beating aired, a police source said.
Lil Reese — who, according to a police source, was arrested last year for aggravated battery with discharge of a firearm — uses some of the same gang references as Chief Keef, including the reference to “300.” Chicago Police say the number “300” is street slang for the Black Disciples gang.
A spokeswoman for the record company was not immediately able to comment. A representative for Lil Reese did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Chief Keef, whose given name is Keith Cozart, made headlines last month when his Twitter account displayed a mocking Tweet reacting to the murder of Joseph “Lil JoJo” Coleman, a rival in Englewood.
Lil Reese and Lil JoJo had been feuding. On the day he was killed, Coleman made a video of what’s purported to be a street confrontation with Lil Reese. Someone on the YouTube video is heard saying, “I’m a kill you.”
