Chance The Rapper has been one of the most celebrated rappers of his generation, and his trajectory as an artist nearly seems limitless. Along the way, the Chicago native has amassed a number of friends in high places and he mentions some of those connections in a revealing interview conducted by GQ magazine.
The profile by GQ zeroes in on the zany up and down ride Chance has taken since the success of his second project, the critically-acclaimed Acid Rap. As revealed in the interview, Chance was on drugs, acid specifically, at the time and the fanfare around the mixtape sparked a rush move to Los Angeles and more drugs. In between that time, Chance found himself in rarefied air and collaborating more. It was also the start of his defiant stance against signing with a major record label, a position he holds fast on even today.
Chance’s journey back to Chicago, reaffirming his faith in God, becoming a father and letting go some of his inner demons informs a bulk of the piece. It was with Chance’s shift that he was plugged in with Kanye West to work on what would become The Life of Pablo, and the 23-year-old artist seemed to be transformed by the experience.
Other highlights of the interview included the breakdown of Chance’s connection with President Barack Obama, whom Chance’s father, a community organizer, previously worked with.
From GQ:
Do we know if ‘Coloring Book’ has made its way to the White House?
“Oh yeah. They’re bumping Coloring Book hard up there. If you go up there, you’ll probably hear Coloring Book. This is not a joke at all.”
How do you know that?
“Malia. Malia listens to Coloring Book. And I send them stuff sometimes. I haven’t seen Malia since I was a kid. I think they were both in school the day that I went up there recently, but Barack was talking about it. Or, uh, President Obama was talking about it.”
Read the entire GQ interview with Chance The Rapper by following this link. The print edition of this story appears in GQ’s September issue.
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Photo: GQ
