Key Takeaways
- Chance the Rapper reveals the value of direct fan connection and full creative control without label interference has been a major payoff of being independent.
- Being an independent artist comes with humbling lessons and real fears of financial instability, but Chance is embracing having the final say when it comes to his career.
- His forthcoming album, Star Line, and the “And We Back Tour” reflect his continued commitment to not taking orders from any label.
Being an independent artist has worked out for Chance the Rapper, largely because he’s always been willing to bet big on his success even when the odds were stacked against him. For a decade now, he has had one of the few visible independent success stories in Hip Hop, and he’s still just getting started.
The Chicago native was confident that he could shoot for the stars and land on the charts with hits like “I’m the One” and “No Problem.”
But every single album and tour has required a roll of the dice with no major label backing. He knows the risks of failure, but also the payoff of massive wins. “It’s a gamble. I’ve gotta really bet on myself, so I do go broke all the time, you know what I mean. And I do be up all the time,” he explained in a new interview for “Effective Immediately” uploaded on Wednesday (Aug. 13).
Furthermore, Chance explained some of the decision-making process and noted, “When you bet on yourself, you’re really betting on yourself, and it really comes down to, like, are my fans willing to support? Am I doing the things that’s ‘gon make my fans want to support? Like, am I interacting with them… Am I constantly releasing music to them? Do I have merch that’s actually, like, made with nice s**t and not just something that I threw together?”
According to him, that mental back-and-forth, though, is worth it professionally and personally. “It makes it a much more personal relationship, but it also, like, I think it humbles me,” said Chance. He added, “The fact that there’s not a middleman, the fact that there’s not somebody else that’s in control and deciding when I do radio tours, and when [I] drop a single, you know, who can be featured on my album, and what samples are gonna get cleared… It’s all up to me. And that makes it harder on me, but that also makes it real and makes me be the person that gets to decide what success looks like.”
Chance’s new era: “And We Back Tour” and Star Line album
Star Line, his first album since 2019’s The Big Day, will finally be liberated on Friday (Aug. 15). The body of work is described as “a deep, unshakable connection to Chicago and to Black culture across the diaspora.” Chance dropped off the first single, “Tree,” featuring lyrical assists from Lil Wayne and Smino on July 3. He heads out on the “And We Back Tour” with 15 stops beginning Sept. 26 and ending on Oct. 20.
Chance’s success didn’t come from shortcuts, but from taking real risks. With new music and performances on the way, he’s doubling the wager for an even bigger win.