Chance the Rapper was in London last week to perform a rare UK show, but music wasn’t the only thing on his mind over the July 4th holiday weekend.
The 22-year-old Chicagoan sat down with British DJ Semtex to talk about his performance and his musical aesthetic, but the conversation also veered into politics and race relations.
Chance was asked in the interview about the state of race relations in the U.S. in the wake of numerous police-involved shooting of African-Americans and the ensuing protests. He also opened up on how he thinks President Obama, whom he has supported in the past, is doing to manage the national tension:
I think Barack Obama achieved a lot. There’s a lot of monumental establishments that have come from him being in office, but I think the problem of systematic racism and second class citizens – it’s something that’s perpetual through history. Especially with darker people. It doesn’t just stop in America. I don’t think it’s necessarily something you put the first Black man in office to change. I don’t think putting the first Black man in office is a sign of change. I think there are certain things – like I said – systemically, politically, socially that need to take place on both sides of it, from the people and the people that we put in place that could change stuff. But I think Barack Obama has done some great things. That’s objective, because I’ve worked with the city. I’ve worked with the neighborhoods, and one of the people I consider allies would be the president. He’s done dope things in the city of Chicago. I’ve worked with the city on a lot of projects. But do I think everybody is doing everything that they can? No, and that includes me.
The portions where Chance talks about Obama and “systematic racism and second class citizens” starts at about the 53:20 mark:
Oh, and there’s a new single – and album – dropping soon from Chatham’s favorite son.
.@ChanceTheRapper tells @DJSemtex he's dropping his new single "Paradise" soon http://t.co/Ra0Io4plqF pic.twitter.com/C7ZGaKYOan
— watchLOUD (@watchLOUD) July 7, 2015
