“When I stepped in there, I was Kanye’s prodigy”
In a feature published on Teen Vogue this week, Chance The Rapper connected with Get Out writer and director Jordan Peele for a phone interview, during which they discussed the relevance of Peele’s horror film, working with Kanye, looking up to Dave Chapelle and Obama as role models and how they should collaborate together.
On working with Kanye, Chance detailed how the rapper would “put a bunch of people in a room that he thinks might have good ideas and try to see what they come up with.” He recalled, “I remember one night we had a lady who produced the Lego film, a bunch of coding people, and a magician all in a room together trying to figure out how they could make him disappear onstage. I don’t know if he ever figured that shit out!”
He discussed how Kanye’s honesty and creativity affected him: “I think it helped me find myself. I’m a young dude from Chicago who grew up with Kanye as my image of hip-hop. Finding your voice in a room where you have to challenge Kanye is scary – but it’s also life-affirming.”
On his role models, he revealed, “My three role models growing up were the three most confident, powerful, important, contemporary male black figures: Kanye West, Barack Obama, and Dave Chappelle… I would largely attribute my identity – as it relates to music labels and corporate music giants – to Dave Chappelle and his relationship to and firm standing in Hollywood.”
It’s no secret that Chance is a fan of Peele’s directorial debut Get Out. Earlier this year, he rented out a theatre in Chicago to screen the film for free to the public. During the interview, he said, “I love that Rose tells Chris ahead of time, ‘You know, my dad’s gonna tell you that he voted for Obama.’ That’s some shit we hear! Dudes aren’t really getting killed going to visit their white girlfriend’s family for the first time, but everything around it is a reality.” Peele responded with, “Maybe we can collaborate on the Get Out musical someday. You’re acting, too, right? You’re going to become a much bigger multi-hyphenate… ”
In other recent news, Chance linked up with Kaytranada for the track They Say.
Read Crack’s feature with composer Michael Abels on how he produced the chilling score for Get Out.
