Chance the Rapper buys Chicagoist, announces the move in a new song

Chance the Rapper dropped four new songs Wednesday night, including one that announced his purchase of the Chicagoist.

In his new track “I Might Need Security,” the 25-year-old rapper and Chicago native seems to take aim at local media with the lyric announcing his purchase: “I bought the Chicagoist just to run you racist bitches out of business.”

In a statement discussing the purchase, Chance, whose given name is Chancelor Bennett, called the Chicagoist “an integral local platform for Chicago news, events and entertainment.”

“I look forward to re-launching it and bringing the people of Chicago an independent media outlet focused on amplifying diverse voices and content,” he added.

WNYC, New York’s Public radio station, announced the sale of the Chicagoist archives on Twitter at 11:27 p.m., linking to a Gothamist article that said the deal took place between WNYC and Chance the Rapper’s Social Media LLC.

The song singles out Crain’s Chicago Business and the Sun-Times in its second verse: “I missed a Crain’s interview, they tried leaking my addy, I donate to the schools next, they call me a deadbeat daddy. But Sun-Times get in that Rauner business, I got a hit-list so long I don’t know how to finish.”

The jabs seem to reference recent coverage of the rapper by local media. In April, Crain’s reported on his purchase of a $3.7 million condo in Streeterville in an article that included a gallery of listing photos. In March of 2017, Bennett lambasted a column by Mary Mitchell that called him “one of the good guys” and “hero in the ‘hood,” but warned that a then-unresolved child support dispute with the mother of his daughter could tarnish his reputation.

“Child support is an emotionally charged issue that plays a big role in the high level of poverty in the black community,” Mitchell wrote. “If this personal issue is handled callously in the public, Chance the Rapper’s clean-cut image could take a big hit.”

Chance responded with a series of Instagram posts, most of which have since been deleted, that featured images and videos of himself, daughter Kensli, and her mother Kirsten Corley. Corley withdrew the petition for child support when the couple reconciled later that year, and earlier this month Chance proposed to Corley at a backyard party on the South Side.

Chicagoist was previously owned by DNAinfo. Both publications were shutdown by CEO Joe Ricketts in November.

WNYC, along with KPCC in Southern California and WAMU in Washington, D.C., acquired assets from Gothamist and DNAinfo in February of this year, including the Chicagoist, DCist and LAist websites. In June, WNYC donated the archives and assets from DNAinfo Chicago to Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit news startup founded by former DNAinfo staff.

“We are delighted that the Chicagoist assets are finding a new home in the hands of a proud Chicagoan,” said Laura Walker, President and CEO of New York Public Radio, which includes WNYC.

“WNYC has a strong commitment to local journalism and building community, and we are pleased that these assets will be used to support local coverage in the great city of Chicago.”

Chance’s new tracks were released at 11 p.m. on major streaming platforms and on chanceraps.com.

Spotify tweeted links to the songs with the message “Drop everything. Four new tracks from [Chance the Rapper] are here.”

Along with “I Might Need Security”, the rapper released tracks titled ““65th and Ingleside,” “Wala Cam” and “Work Out.”