Before we continue this article I want to drop a disclaimer…so here it is.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions in this article are mine and not necessarily the opinions of the Dead End Hip Hop staff…or they might be. I don’t know. OH, and before you @ me on Twitter...just know that won’t change my opinions.
Aight boom. Recently I’ve noticed a trend regarding Chicago’s Chance The Rapper. Chance is a very diverse and multi-layered artist that combines the sounds of gospel and really really soft rap with heavy Christian themes. He’s collaborated with Young Thug, Justin Bieber, had a standout verse on Kanye’s “Ultralight Beam” and…wait, why am I giving an introduction, I’m sure you already know him. He’s everywhere. Which is partially why I’m writing this article.
Recently a report came out saying that music platform Soundcloud basically had 50 days to live…and EVERYONE was panicking. “Oh my God, what are we gonna do now?! What about the music?”. But…not even 24 hours later, Chance…Chance, out of all of the people…stated that Soundcloud was here to stay. This seemed a little fishy to me. First of all…if Soundcloud was REALLY in trouble wouldn’t we have heard about it sooner? More importantly…how does ONE rapper with a net worth of 9 million…that isn’t Diddy, Jay-Z, Drake or Kanye…how does one rapper save a platform that big with just a phone call?
That leads to a couple of theories.
- Chance has more power than we thought.
- The whole thing is a set-up and Soundcloud was NEVER shutting down in the first place
This brings me to another point. There’s really no nice way to say it, but Chance The Rapper is an industry plant. His level of popularity was planned ever since he before he dropped Acid Rap. His dad worked with my President, and his dad grew up with/knows Spike Lee. I knew he would be this big. Look at him. He’s marketable. He smiles. He laughs. He has an adorable daughter. He’s Christian. His music is safe. He wears OVERALLS. Women love him. He won awards while being “independent”. He’s essentially the anti Kanye. And this is exactly why his popularity has skyrocketed.
All of those things I mentioned are precisely why I don’t buy this corny good guy image that he’s forcing. Every time he does something he’s making sure you know. Whether it be “saving” Soundcloud, donating to a school or something like that. He apologized to the labels he dissed. He apologized for liking a picture on Instagram (???). Whatever he does (mostly positive) is immediately broadcasted and eaten up. It’s like he’s some super hero……..so like I said, the anti Kanye. I’m not a fan of him being put on a pedestal for stuff like this, his false independence, his safe good guy image that’s completely fake. If other rappers can do good for people in silence, why is he so different. Why are people subject to having to deal with watching his every move?
Nobody else thinks it’s weird that Chance was EVERYWHERE on the blogs in 2012 despite barely anyone ever hearing of him? He wasn’t independent then because he was signed with Creative Arts Agency (Home to George Clooney, Will Smith, David Beckham among others). Chance wasn’t independent then. Chance is not independent now. You can’t sit here and tell me that anyone backed by Apple (a company worth 700 BILLION) is an independent artist just because they aren’t signed to a label. Chance The Rapper’s album Coloring Book was streamed on Apple Music for 2 weeks before it was “free”. That’s not independent. If you’re being backed by the biggest tech company in the world, how can you expect not to sell a ton of records and win awards. He isn’t a trailblazer or example for other independent rappers, but he is a marketing GENIUS.
I was a Chance fan for a long time. But I’m even more a fan of the culture. I understand artist development, because Chance hasn’t always made music like this, music with strong Christian themes, but I understand. Music is all about branding, how you market yourself. Chance has shown that he’s soft spoken, friendly, a nice guy. He’s a rapper who won’t push the envelope. you can listen to him in the car with your parents, even the unclean versions. He’s what Childish Gambino was supposed to be. He’s what Drake was in 2008. And after he got the Kanye push and co-sign, it was over. Chance was catapulted past hip-hop and into pop cultural stardom.
I know what you’re thinking. “He does all this good stuff for people, he saved Soundcloud, why should we care? Go get some money, hating ass nigga!”. Yeah, f*ck me, right? I’m not hating on Chance. I still enjoy his old music. I believe he’s overhyped and his false, independent savior image is a detriment to the culture. This has been set up since the beginning. To me what sets him apart from rappers like Kendrick (let’s just use him) is that Kendrick pushes the envelope while giving you 100% raw raps hit your soul and throughout his career he has unapologetically dropped music for the culture without sacrificing his image. One of my issues with Chance is that he’s done a complete 180 musically, which I understand and a complete 180 with his image. He also got off drugs, and I’m happy for him but you can’t tell me that him being sober is gonna turn him into this complete cornball…something is up.
In the words of Joe Budden: ” You can’t fool a real nigga, you can fool all of them who aren’t paying attention, but you can’t fool me.”
………Y’all know this is just my opinion, right?
He’s not an industry plant that’s too much of a conspiracy theory. But is he a phony sellout? Probably. Did he recognize the market for good boy rap after Sunday Candy, or Cocoa Butter Kisses got big? Probably. Did the dexterity and passion of his music disappear after he stopped doing drugs? Definitely. I’m not hating on him, I love him now and I loved him then. But as an artist, his talent has declined as his success rose. Someone earlier in the comments brought up his brother. Taylor is in the exact spot now that chance was after 10 Day. He’s dropped one pretty damn good mixtape and his buzz is growing. In fact, I prefer Taylor’s music at this point. So let’s not criticize taylor for not being as famous as his older brother. In the end, the author makes a ton of good points about Chances credibility and authenticity, but not enough to prove some conspiracy.
#hater
I fucked with chance wayyyyyy back. Like 10 Day, heavy illroots cosign days, and I fucked with the boy heavy. But to this day I still haven’t downloaded coloring book because he just a fucking lame now. Find Jesus, find sobriety, find all the money in the world, but don’t let the art change because of it.
I respected your opinion until your the quote from Joe Budden. Real niggas do whatever the fuck they please. If that means acting like a corny ass white dude then so be it. I’m sick of niggas telling everybody how to act. Don’t talk like Chance aint a real nigga. He’s black aint he? If you black you a nigga. When you say real nigga you make it about having a certain level of “blackness.” Just call him fake if thats what you mean. Be like, Chance is fake as fuck. But don’t say he aint a real nigga cause he look like a nigga to me.
Why exactly should ANY of what you’ve said matter? Oh because you’re a nigga that got something to say and a platform to say it? Chance does CHANCE! He ain’t trying to be like no other rapper. And I guess in your mind all rappers have to have this “horrible person” persona, huh? Get you a rap career and BE YOURSELF in it…. And get off Chance The Rapper! Or get something valid to say! Yeah you gave your opinion and I just gave mine…. And I didn’t have to “@” you….. A life is free….. Get you one
I been saying this since the grammies Chance is hyped up by the music industry do his fans even equal his success
As much I share your some of your concerns about Chance’s changing musical themes this is just terrible journalism. This reads like a bunch of schoolboys arguing than a cohesive and cogent writeup. For a second, let’s ignore the ludicrous grammatical structure of this article. You are ambivalent about your stance and continously keep contradicting yourself throughout. Your critique of his music and marketing strategy is shallow and unconvincing and shows your pedestrian understanding of the subject. In the end, this culminates to a ridiculous and weightless click bait thinkpiece that shows lack of any actual thinking. Also constantly stating how this is your opinion does not change anything. You are entitled to your INFORMED opinion. And you my friend don’t seem informed at all.
How come someone being positive has to be thought of negatively. Everyone black has to act ghetto fabulous, drink and smoke dope. Thank God we have men real black men that aren’t afraid to carry out our legacy.
Sign me up thanks Chance
It’s funny how I view most pop culture after seeing Black Mirror. The ladder is in the dark. The higher u climb the more eyes on you. Don’t know if its for better or worse.
Keeping it real. Your opinion is trash. You really based this whole wack ass article off “he’s a good dude, from a good family, who made good business decisions, and decided to be better than he was.” This is what you see, and somehow, you still felt justified to write something so stupid. Character assassination pieces like this are ACTUALLY detrimental to the culture. Don’t drag Kendrick into your fuckery, that’s a whole different dude, doing a whole different thing. They don’t have issues with each other, so you manufacturing one is bullshit. And you know it’s bullshit. Any time someone knows they are about to say some fuck shit, they always start talking about “well this is my opinion”, like that’s some kinda big joker card to trump the fact that you just said something completely idiotic. Nah fam, your opinion is stupid. You coulda kept this wack shit.
Great read first off! I do have a question for you, however. If an artist was independently able to land a deal with a major corporation that did not require him to hand over the rights to his music does that really make him less independent?
Making as much money as you can while retaining your creative rights is the dream for most artist and I feel like Chance has done that. I would love to hear what you think!
Black youth are not the only people that listen to hip hop.
I’m disappointed I wasted part of my day reading an article composed by someone so utterly dumb. I feel bad for you
I’m not that into rap and I really only know the stuff that’s played on the radio. I get everything your saying and it’s probably 80% truth. So with that being said, why is this a bad thing for the culture? Positive images of hip-hop! Black youth need all the positive messages they can get. How can images of a Black Man giving back, Christian values (or any other teaches of moral values), and being drug free be bad for the culture? Being shot down in the streets by a gansta, a wanksta, or the police isn’t cool or glamous. Stop drinking “Their” kool-aid and wise up. Change and loving our communities is the only way we will survive. Peace & Love to you.
What a pointless article.
This article is a terrible look man theres so much false in here. First of all his brother has had all the advantages he’s had but has gotten virtually nowhere near the success. Stop trying to downplay hard work. Second what the hell would a politician gain by pushing an artist that rapped about illegal drugs? Did you even think this through when you wrote that? A arts agency isnt a damn music label and neither is apple. Did you even research what that agency is? All it does is provide managers…. All artists have managers. And to your blog point he blew up locally from FakeShoreDrive.com once again do your research literally every single popular rap artist in the past 8 years has blown up from FSD so is keef a plant? What about mick jenkins or vic mensa?
Agree that dude is an industry creation with targeted branding. I don’t like Chance because I don’t hang out in elevators and I’m definitely no kind of christian so I never want to hear that corny shit. However the sound cloud announcement didn’t come out of nowhere. They have had known problems for a long time. The problem being lots of bills and no cash coming in. They have existed on VC so far.
Nothing but facts, dude has changed since 2013, his whole image been getting less and less authentic since then, and it wasnt that authentic to begin with.
Also Coloring book wasn’t good
Terrible argument with barely any factual points.
“First of all…if Soundcloud was REALLY in trouble wouldn’t we have heard about it sooner?” You do know that Soundcloud has been owing money to labels for a few years now, that’s why the fallout was happening.
http://www.factmag.com/2016/02/11/soundcloud-financial-report-44m-losses/
https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/9avg35/soundcloud-2015-financial-report-loss
http://musically.com/2016/02/09/soundcloud-financial-results-2014/
My first comment on a blog ever lol so I’ll keep it short. I was riding with you all the way up until you copped out at “industry plant.”
Thats a lazy assessment.
I agree about the “independent” sentiments echoed by Joe Budden & yourself. There is no way you’re independent with Cara Lewis behind you (Hey Russ).
BUT…
Industry plant, no way. No way Chance was planned. I do feel, however, that with the dope early projects (’10 Day’ & ‘Acid Rap’) and the concepts behind both of those records, partnered with the resources at Chances disposal back then (magically appearing on every major blog publication) and the response that was garnered from listeners, the Chance team went back to the drawing board and said, “Wow, we have something. Lets develop this. Lets run. Lets win.”
Boom… 4 years later with a silent train pushing you, you end up being the face of whats never been done before because of the formula.
I do think its funny that he went from rapping on acid to rapping with only the holy spirit lol but hey, get your money Chance. I’m sure “the grind” of the initial independence that you put into pushing your music in that first year got the attention of CAA and Cara organically. Just don’t be lying to the real independent artists who don’t have a legendary promotion specialist in their back pocket to push them past the threshold of truly being “independent,” winning Grammy’s, and crediting it to “the grind.”
Im out tho,
P.
I always thought the whole “industry plant” conspiracy was a bit ridiculous but the more sketchy shit that I hear Chance associated with the more I believe it. It’s shame really, it makes you question a lot of your other favourite artists and hip-hop as a whole.
You are a fucking idiot. Truly.
I think your an idiot!!
Finally someone who also shares my thoughts