Into It with Sam Sanders
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over a honky-tonk piano in Juice, that school-house taunt refrain on Nana.
Ten years later, much has changed for Chance, hip-hop, and America at large.
Whatever I could do to make it get heard.
Clearly, it worked.
Listen to the full interview fromInto Itbelow or read on for an excerpt of our conversation.
I was living at my parents house and just trying to make this dream work.
This was my second mixtape under the moniker Chance the Rapper.
And I had dropped a mixtape the year before this called10 Day.
Now, nobody in the crowd knew who I was.
And soon after that I did my first tour, and that was when I first made some money.
Acid Rapreally captured this youthful exuberance.
Music was still very heavy on the iTunes side.
This is before any large-scale streaming service.
Not that people werent trying to sign me, but they wasnt trying to give me no control.
We put together this mixtape with my own money.
And the way it spread was just so different.
Like, SoundCloud, DatPiff, LiveMixtapes.
I had the DatPiff app on my iPhone just to listen to it.A lot of people have that story.
The music felt like it belonged to people.
You had to find it.
Somebody had to tell you about it.
And I remember there being a line around two blocks long of people waiting outside.
The difference between that listening party and the listening party from my10 Daymixtape, it was just so different.
I went on tour in Europe that same year in 2013.
I got two really cool offers.
I got brought to do a few dates with Eminem in Ireland.
We did this place called Slane Castle.
It was 90,000 people.
Macklemore took me on in the same year.
When I came back, I did my own little mini tour.
It started off as 35 dates.
It got extended to 50 dates.
I did every major and small market around the U.S. and all sold-out shows.
But, thats when I felt it.
Whats your favorite song onAcid Rap?Probably Acid Rain, just because its the most pure to me.
It was a lot of stuff that I would not normally talk about so plainly in my music.
I feel like women in rap right now are having fun.
But the men seem sad.
Is it fair to say that?Yeah, I dont think theyre happy.
I feel for niggas.
Most of us have lost somebody to violence or witnessed some throw in of violence that scarred us.
I think that the powers that be are a lot of times in control of what direction were going.
In terms of public safety, even the weather.
The Earth is not as lit as it was in 2013.
I think if I had to blame it on something, I would just say times is hard.
Everybody is just rapping what they know.
I want to talk a bit about Kanyes influence on you, especially at the time ofAcid Rap.
But since 04, Ive been extremely influenced by Yes music and his art.
But Ive heard less from you on that front these days.
Ive just, I guess kind of become a little, I dont know.
Jaded?Its not even jaded.
Its just like I dont believe in that shit anymore.
I want to unpack that.
We attach so many other categories to our identity that kind of keep us splintered.
I think the only time that were allowed to be Black people is when were the Black vote.
Im very focused on politics.
Im just focused on it in a different space.
To tell you that I dont want to talk about it, I got to give a long explanation.
And theres a great sense of like, responsibility.
The second thing that happens is I start to think about how I could be misquoted or misunderstood.
Im not even as worried about a quote being misunderstood.
Im more worried about myself being misunderstood because a quote misdirects everybody.
Thats just the game that we play though.
Its the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
Youre seeing all the press coverage and everyones talking about the history and where it came from.
I think its always a good time to have a conversation about how we could be better.
But I also think that theres a time and space for celebration.
Hip-hop is the dominating culture in terms of fashion, music, and art.
It mobilizes all of the capitalist movements, advertising, and marketing.
All of these things are using our car to get there.
We do have a huge problem with homophobia.
We do have a huge problem with sexism.
I hate to sound like I keep flip-flopping, but hip-hop is a reflection of the world.
Its not just a promotional tool.
Its also what people are experiencing and what people grew up understanding.
Do you think things are getting better at all on any of those fronts?
Because, Im not sure.Im going to say no.
Its a tough thing because Im also an outsider.
As much as we centralize ourselves as Americans, Im a foreigner in all these spaces.
But, Ive been in every nook and cranny in Europe.
Ive played Asia, Australia, South America.
Its about the collective.Exactly, we got to be brothers and sisters.
Theyre blowing up, and they have the budget to market and the money to pay for Instagram posts.
So its like we are all in this cycle.
I mean, I listen to a lot of violent music.
I like violent music.
But, the fact that thats the most successful music out there is not necessarily by our design.
I dont think thats Black peoples goal.
I live in Chicago.
When you asked me about a turning point, Chicago changed everything.
There was a wave of music that came out right around the same time asAcid Rap.
Youre talking about drill music.Yeah.
Drill music specifically in Chicago, blowing up the way it did, influenced the entire world.
Theres Italian drill music, theres Chinese drill music.
This is the life he lived.
He was speaking his truth.Literally.
Hip-hop didnt just last because we let it last.
Thats happening today in hip-hop.
Its just waiting on its right moment.
I also did a lot of drugs, so I have terrible memory-loss issues.
She got my daughter Kensli some kids books.
But also, there was one on the Tulsa race riot.
Do you really want me to read these to her?
And she just really taught my ass.
And I was like, Did you just put a curse on me?
Im trying to get on.
Im trying to make it.
Thats some Black grandmother ish right there.Right?
I think she would say the same prayer.
Im in the same boat.
Keep doing everything youre doing the same way.
Youre fearless, youre dedicated, youre honest, and do what youre doing.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
