Chance The Rapper

Chance The Rapper Explains Why He Won’t Sign New Artists Even Though He Follows Them

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Chance The Rapper is one of the better-established artists in rap right now, which begs the question: Why doesn’t he have a label with a roster full of little homies like so many of his peers? “Young Thug is the king of that sh*t,” he tells Showtime hosts Desus & Mero. “He got 50 people in this sh*t, put them in great positions.”

However, as he explains, “I’m in a position where I can’t sign anybody. I can’t put nobody on.” He elaborates, “You get to a certain space in the industry, and then people are like, ‘Okay, who are your underlings?’ … I’ve never been a person that signed anybody, so when somebody is hot and people are like, ‘Yo check this person out,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I listen to this person every day.’ I don’t have anything for them. I can’t advance their career. I can tell them not to sign. That’s the best I can do for n****s right now.” One such rapper he does shout out though is Beaumont, Texas’ Teezo Touchdown, with whom he’s performing at Summerfest in September.

Desus also challenges Chance to answer the age-old question of which city’s pizza is better between Chicago and New York. Chance goes with his hometown, but he offers an intriguing rationale: “I think the problem with New York pizza is you have too much of it.”

Watch Chance The Rapper’s hilarious interview with Desus & Mero above.

Chance The Rapper Explains Why He Won’t Sign New Artists Even Though He Follows Them

by

Chance The Rapper is one of the better-established artists in rap right now, which begs the question: Why doesn’t he have a label with a roster full of little homies like so many of his peers? “Young Thug is the king of that sh*t,” he tells Showtime hosts Desus & Mero. “He got 50 people in this sh*t, put them in great positions.”

However, as he explains, “I’m in a position where I can’t sign anybody. I can’t put nobody on.” He elaborates, “You get to a certain space in the industry, and then people are like, ‘Okay, who are your underlings?’ … I’ve never been a person that signed anybody, so when somebody is hot and people are like, ‘Yo check this person out,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I listen to this person every day.’ I don’t have anything for them. I can’t advance their career. I can tell them not to sign. That’s the best I can do for n****s right now.” One such rapper he does shout out though is Beaumont, Texas’ Teezo Touchdown, with whom he’s performing at Summerfest in September.

Desus also challenges Chance to answer the age-old question of which city’s pizza is better between Chicago and New York. Chance goes with his hometown, but he offers an intriguing rationale: “I think the problem with New York pizza is you have too much of it.”

Watch Chance The Rapper’s hilarious interview with Desus & Mero above.

Chance The Rapper Is Bringing A Free Weekly Literacy Event To Chicago

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In the midst of all the horrible news this industry generates about hip-hop — the violence, ignorance, misogyny, and casual homophobia of it all — it’s nice to get some good news once in a while. To that end, Chance The Rapper is set to bring a free literacy event to his hometown, Saturday’s Books & Breakfast.

Living up to its title, the program will offer free books and free breakfast to attendees, as well as free family portraits. Designed for young children between the ages of three and eight, the events will run weekly on the South and West Sides, including sites in Englewood, Garfield Park, North Lawndale, and West Chatham. You can find more information here.

Chance has always been community-focused, and recently, he’s been returning to his efforts to give back. Most recently, he headlined the LA-based COVID-19 service event 1DayLA alongside his “Holy” collaborator Justin Bieber, helping the event “organize beautification projects, back-to-school events, free medical clinics, homeless assistance, and aid distribution.”

Meanwhile, you begin catching him live again sooner rather than later, as editing his concert film Magnificent Coloring World has made The Rapper “super thirsty” to start performing as well. You can catch the film in theaters in August.

Editing ‘Magnificent Coloring World’ Made Chance The Rapper ‘Super Thirsty’ To Perform Again

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Chance The Rapper hasn’t performed live in quite some time, both as a result of him taking a break after releasing his debut album The Big Day and due to the global pandemic that shut down festivals and tours for over a year. However, in August, he’ll premiere his concert film Magnificent Coloring World in select AMC Theatres across the country, which will give his fans a chance to see him again, and he’ll return to the stage this September at Summerfest in Milwaukee.

In a new interview about the film with Billboard, Chance says the process of editing the film “made me super thirsty” to perform live again. “Watching a performance of mine from four years ago, I’m like ‘I would have done this’ or ‘I would have done that,’” he says. “I’m saying to myself ’I can’t wait to perform this particular song now. I’m looking at it as a performer, but also as a filmmaker.”

Magnificent Coloring World celebrates the five-year anniversary of Coloring Book, Chance’s critically-acclaimed, Grammy-winning third mixtape, and he’s putting it in theaters because “there’s just something different about going to see something in theaters, instead of watching it in your bed or whatever,” he says. “I always knew that I wanted this to be experienced in a group and on a huge screen with crazy surround sound.”

You can catch Magnificent Coloring World in select cities 8/13. Find out more here.

Justin Bieber And Chance The Rapper Will Headline The Freedom Experience Concert

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Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper have shared a number of moments throughout their careers. From their early collaborations that include “Roller Coaster” and “Juke Jam” to their most recent one with “Holy,” the two artists are quite familiar with each other. So it’s no surprise that they’ve both signed on to headline the upcoming Freedom Experience concert in Los Angeles. The event is the finale of 1DayLA’s weeklong COVID-19 service event that takes place from July 18-24.

According to a press release for the event, 1DayLA’s goal is to mobilize 20,000 volunteers in the Southern California area to help “organize beautification projects, back-to-school events, free medical clinics, homeless assistance, and aid distribution.” The concert itself will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California which holds up to 70,000 people. Jaden, Tori Kelly, and more are also slated to perform at the upcoming show.

Bieber revealed that his reason for joining the 1DayLA show was his commitment to the “powerful idea that a movement for change can start with individuals helping one another and their community.”

The news comes after Bieber joined The Kid Laroi for their latest collaboration, “Stay,” an effort Laroi described as “probably the most organic way of making a song I’ve ever done.” Chance, on the other hand, is preparing to release his upcoming concert film, Magnificent Coloring Book.

Scroll up to see a flyer for the event and for more on 1DayLA, click here.

Chance The Rapper Shares The Release Date And Trailer For His ‘Magnificent Coloring World’ Concert Film

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In 2017, Chance The Rapper held a secret show for some of the biggest fans in his hometown, Chicago. The footage forms the basis for a new concert film, Magnificent Coloring World. Chance recently shared the trailer for the film on social media, simultaneously announcing its August 13 release date at select AMC Theatres. Pre-sale begins next Friday, July 16. The film’s premiere is set for August 13 in LA, with a follow-up event planned for New York the next day. According to a press release, it’s the first time an artist has independently distributed a film through AMC Theatres.

The concert, which Chance played and filmed in the spring of 2017, featured a custom stage and sound design created specifically for the movie (which Chance teased a few times throughout the year) and is directed by Jake Shreier, who previously shot the romantic comedy-drama Paper Towns.

Chance, who laid low for much of 2020, popping out a few times to support some of his closest friends including Justin Bieber on “Holy” and Vic Mensa on “Shelter,” is gearing up to return to the spotlight this year with a headlining slot at Summerfest 2021 and the new single, “The Heart & The Tongue,” which promised a return to the stripped-down sounds of his early work.

Watch Chance The Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World trailer above.