Chance The Rapper Talks Growth and Legacy

I caught up with Chance The Rapper backstage Sunday night at The Fillmore in Denver, in the moments before he took the stage as a part of his And We Back Tour.

I’ve known him since his teenage years, back when I was a mentor at an after school program at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, and it’s been a privilege to be a witness to his uncommon journey.

In our recent conversation, we talked about his latest album, Star Line, what he’s been up to and how he’s been influenced by artists of all stripes. We also discussed how he wants to play a role in providing platforms for both his peers, and for those artists that paved the way for him.

Ayana Contreras: All right. Ayana Contreras from KUVO and THE DROP. I’m here with Chance The Rapper.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah.

Ayana Contreras: I feel like I just saw you two days ago maybe-

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, you did.

Ayana Contreras: … because I actually just saw you two days ago.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, yes.

Ayana Contreras: But you are going on this And We Back tour, and it seems like people are really embracing you. We came up here at The Fillmore in Denver, and crowds were around the block. Everybody is so jazzed and excited. How are you feeling?

Chance The Rapper: I feel really good. It’s a blessing. I haven’t played Denver in a long time and this was one of my, I don’t know what to call it, this is a love hub. This is where I hub all my love. Every time I’ve ever come to Denver, it’s just been great vibes. You know what I’m saying? And I think doing this tour, it reminded me how much, I know I love to travel. I know that I love to be on stage, but I’m also really a people person. I like talking to people, and meeting people, and getting to meet people and hear their stories, and see them face to face for the first time in however long, or the first time ever. It has been a very rewarding experience.

Ayana Contreras: It’s so funny, I feel like I’ve told this story before, but you remember the first time we met?

Chance The Rapper: Remind me.

Ayana Contreras: Okay. It’s a long time ago. So-

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, I was a child.

Ayana Contreras: Yes, you were.

Chance The Rapper: I was a bad kid.

Ayana Contreras: Right. So we were at the YouMedia space at the library and you walked into the space, and I will never forget you were wearing some teal green boat shoes. Do you remember those shoes?

Chance The Rapper: Yes. Yes. Very well.

Ayana Contreras: Yeah? And I was like, “I really like your shoes.” And you took them off your feet and you said, “Do you want them?”

Chance The Rapper: That sounds like me. That sounds like me as a kid. I don’t know why I would say things like that, but I’m glad you liked my shoes.

Ayana Contreras: They were good shoes.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, I was early on the boat shoes wave. Nobody that was a kid my age was rocking them joints. Those some Sperrys probably.

Ayana Contreras: I think so.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah.

Ayana Contreras: They were very unique. But I mean, the point here that I was bringing up is, yes, you made an impression, but also I’ve watched you for a really long time.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah?

Ayana Contreras: And so even during this interim period where you were putting out loosies, but you hadn’t put out a full project, I’ve been so excited to see… I said to somebody two days ago, I was like, “Basically, he took time off and got a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.” Real talk. I feel like with the Star Line Festival and all the other things that you’ve been up to, you haven’t just been twiddling your thumbs.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, no, yeah. I like to think of this time that I spent as a sabbatical almost where I was really deeply just thinking about my craft and my trade as a artist, what it means, where the value in the works comes from, and spending a lot of time around other artists in different mediums with filmmakers, with visual artists-

Ayana Contreras: Right.

Chance The Rapper: … with painters, and fine artists, and with just amazing writers, Noname and Vic Mensa and SABA and Jean Deaux, and just a lot of people that I grew up around that really value the artistry behind rap and poetry. And I think if I hadn’t taken this time, I wouldn’t have been able to deliver the project that we delivered collectively because there was a lot of people that came together to make it happen. But yeah, I think all of every day that we lived in between the last project and today was a time of learning. And I think also the space that we met in when I was at YouMedia, that’s where everything was kind of centered around, was getting better in our craft. All the workshops that happened, the open mic, which was what built everybody.

Ayana Contreras: Really special.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah. But I’m glad that I was able to have this time to really learn and to re-examine a lot of things, whether it’s on the music side, or in my personal life, or the content of my lyrics, or how I present stuff to people, my relationship with God, my relationship with my family, everything. Things change every day. You know what I mean?

Ayana Contreras: Right.

Chance The Rapper: And I think in this time, it really shaped and informed the works.

Ayana Contreras: And, all of your work is deeply autobiographical in one way or the other.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah.

Ayana Contreras: So I really liked hearing this album as sort of, I don’t know, a bookend to this part of your life. There’s so many songs that I feel like, oh my God, I can hear where you’re at and it’s a good place.

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, I think emotions are one of the key things that artists communicate. And I felt so many emotions and I got time to really think about how I wanted to talk about grief, or aging, or escapism, or rage, or whatever. And I think there’s such a range of emotions through the project, that it’s something that you can really sit with, and live with, and maybe even help other people navigate through those different emotions.

Ayana Contreras: Right, that’s healthy.

Chance The Rapper: No facts, I’m glad I did it.

Ayana Contreras: And I’m also glad, just a side note, that you got Brandon back to do the cover. I felt like-

Chance The Rapper: Yeah, shout out to Brandon Bro.

Ayana Contreras: That was amazing.

Chance The Rapper: He’s one of our generational artists and visionaries and yeah, Brandon Breaux obviously did the 10 Day cover, the cover of Acid Rap, of Coloring Book, of my 2018 singles, and just been like an all-around, I don’t know what to even call him. He’s a leader, and I remember talking to him when I first started doing some of the singles or individual pieces over the years, and I started collaborating with artists from West Africa, and from Canada, and from the States.

The first person I wanted to connect with was Brandon, and we talked a lot about different mediums that he could create in that would help further this idea of expounding on the different mediums in art. And he ended up never doing one of those singles, but I think it was important that it went that way. If he had did one of the singles, he probably wouldn’t have did the cover art. And I think also, I think he spent so much time intermittently around me watching me go through these different processes and different life changes, that he had his own perspective on everything when it was time to create the cover.

Ayana Contreras: And you look like an adult, like a grown person.

Chance The Rapper: He made me look old, right? That’s what we were all saying. I was like, “Damn, I look kind of old on this,” and he is like, “That’s how you look.” But yeah, isn’t that crazy?

Ayana Contreras: Yeah.

Chance The Rapper: He’s been drawing me since I was 18 years old.

Ayana Contreras: It’s crazy.

Chance The Rapper: But what I really love about Brandon, I always like to point out is that except for maybe Coloring Book, these are all really just straight up his ideas, the cover art, and he spends a lot of time thinking about the colors that he wants to use, the landscape in the background, composition, how big I am. I’m slightly different sizes on each cover art, and he has a deep explanation for each one of those. And he’s somebody like me that wants to look at everything in terms of the art that we create at a molecular level and be like, “What does this mean, and why am I doing this?” And, I just respect that.

Ayana Contreras: So, one last question. You’re talking about why you do this. I think there’s so many reasons why your album exists, right?

Chance The Rapper: Mm-hmm.

Ayana Contreras: From a Chicago standpoint, as a former Chicagoan, what I see so much is that your story is so inspirational for so many people. They see themselves in you.

Chance The Rapper: Mm-hmm, [inaudible 00:08:02].

Ayana Contreras: So you come in with this record. It came at the right time. Chicago needed you. You know what I mean?

Chance The Rapper: Oh, thank you, man.

Ayana Contreras: Really. But then also, I think the way that you lift up other people in your work, people your age, people above you in terms of generationally, you do that work. Why do you think that you do the work?

Chance The Rapper: That’s a good question. I think it’s because of you and Brother Mike and my mentors when I was younger, always I feel stressed an importance on having a legacy of being a supporter, and an advocate, and a person that platforms people and ideas. And, I think we was on that since we was 14 and 15. We was kids rocking keffiyehs and saying free Palestine when we were children, and we were able to radical and voiced and opinionated and support it because the adults that were in our lives were like, “Yeah, explore these ideas. Yeah, question things. Yes, express yourself.”

And I think I realized over time that, because in hip hop, it’s not that way as much anymore, but when I was growing up, there was always this stigma around aging in hip hop, and how it was a young person’s game and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But the greatest authors get better as they get older, and the great, like any I think artist as you learn more and you mature, you have different perspectives and a different way of attacking the art form. You know more. And so I’ve realized that everyone has a story to tell, people my age, people younger than me, people older than me. And whenever we can collaboratively work on something or I can even shine a light on those things, I think it is forwarding the movement.

Ayana Contreras: I’m so proud of you.

Chance The Rapper: I love you, dude.

Ayana Contreras: Oh, yeah. Thank you. I can’t wait for this show.

Chance The Rapper: It’s going to be one. I’m going to put on a show for you.

Ayana Contreras: Awesome.