For those new to the hip-hop scene, it might be difficult to remember a time when Chance The Rapper was considered the genre’s shining star. However, as the Chicago-born artist marks the 10th anniversary of his breakthrough mixtape, Acid Rap, his influence on the industry and his peers is once again becoming a topic of discussion. Despite his success, Chance admits he hasn’t always felt valued.
In a conversation with Ebro Darden on Apple Music’s The Ebro Show, Chance opened up about some of the more challenging moments in his career. “The toughest challenge I ever experienced was when I went on tour with Macklemore,” he revealed.
Chance was quick to clarify that the issue had nothing to do with Macklemore himself, who he described as an “amazing person” who had greatly helped him. The problem lay in the fact that Macklemore’s shows were in Europe, with 38 dates in venues with capacities of 20,000, in places like Poland and Dusseldorf where English wasn’t widely spoken. Furthermore, all these shows had sold out before Chance was announced as part of the lineup.
“It’s really bad when you go to a show and there’s an opener that you don’t want to see. It’s way worse when it’s a surprise opener that you don’t want to see. That’s speaking a different language and Black, a lot of negatives on top of each other for the Swedish crowds. So I’m dealing with that,” Chance explained.
Despite these challenges, Chance used this experience to improve his performance and prepare for his own headlining tour. “When I came home, I got to finally feel at the end of that year when I went on my own solo tour, I got to feel having my own crowd, selling my own tickets and really built my whole off that tour,” he said.
Fast forward to today, and it’s hard to find anyone who isn’t familiar with Chance The Rapper in some way.
Source: uproxx.com