Chance The Rapper not being a fan of Donald Trump isn’t a stretch for the imagination. He is a liberal artist who has worn his affinity for President Obama on his sleeve and was one of many artists who put his support behind Hillary Clinton during her push for the presidency. But, Chance, like everyone else, has to face a future with Donald Trump leading the country for the next four years. What makes the Coloring Book rapper slightly different from most is he isn’t apprehensive of what a Trump presidency means, not as long as the Chicago-born MC has a mic in his hand.
For Chance, he thinks we have nothing to fear when it comes to Trump because, as a black man, America’s still plagued with problems that have existed for decades. “You gotta just understand, like, shit has been f*cked-up, right?,” he tells GQ in a newly published interview. “Like, ‘Make America Great Again,’ that’s not a real thing because shit ain’t really switched up for them.”
He continues, “It’s not really going that bad for you. If you feel like you’re the under-represented, under-appreciated side of Middle America that is white—quote me—you need to, uh, toughen up, nigga! Somebody gotta punch you in the chest, because shit is sweet for you.
His message isn’t all despair though. Chance understands how influential he can be, as an artist with a platform that allows him to reach many people, including younger fans who take his word as gospel. “I would say to everybody, you know, the world is coming together,” he says. “Like there’s—every day people are becoming more and more, I’m not using this word in terms of emotion, but sensitive to real issues and aware.”
“People are raising their kids to be more and more knowledgeable and understanding,” he continues. “I would say the main reason not to be afraid is that I’m making music for your kids now. I’m coming so clean-cut with the message of hope and understanding, and the Word, that it’s like: What could you be fearful of?”
Chance’s stance isn’t far from reality. While certain circumstances have changed, many have remained the same for black people in America. President Obama has spent the past eight years as our nation’s first black President but even he couldn’t stretch his arms out to protect black citizens from being subjected to police brutality. He couldn’t wipe the hate away from the heart of convicted killer Dylann Roof. Neither President Obama nor Chance can stop bloody rise of murder and shooting statistics in their shared Chicago hometown.
What Chance emphasizes what he can do by helping bring together people of all races is a task we can all help assist in. The sooner everyone – both the “them” that Chance speaks of and the rest of us – realizes that we’re bound together whether we like it or not, the sooner we can begin to create the changes needed to affect our communities and encourage our lawmakers to keep their constituents at the forefront as we face the upheaval that’s bound to come over the course of the next four years.
