Chance the Rapper is performing in Charlotte this week as part of a tour marking 10 years since “Coloring Book,” the mixtape that helped redefine what an independent hip-hop album could be.
He’s also out with a new album, “Star Line,” a six-years-in-the-making project that pulls from Chicago, Ghana and the Caribbean — and, it turns out, some family roots in North Carolina.
Chance the Rapper spoke with WFAE’s Nick de la Canal ahead of Friday’s show at the Amp Ballantyne.
Nick de la Canal: So, Chance, I feel like everyone who knows you knows that you're from Chicago. It's such a big part of your identity and your music. So I was really surprised to learn that you actually have some roots here in North Carolina.
Chance the Rapper: Yeah, my mom's whole family on both sides is all from North Carolina — a really small town right outside of Winston-Salem called Pilot Mountain, population about 1,500 folks. But I spent all my summers in N.C. with my cousins and aunts and uncles.
And I don't know — for me, it's a big part of my identity. I guess I don't talk about it as much as I think I do.
De la Canal: I had seen some old interview where you had mentioned your family owning farmland in Pilot Mountain.
Chance: Yeah. My cousins and aunts all live in one general area, and at one point were big in tobacco farming.
Winston-Salem is historically the tobacco city of America. And so they would drive up to Winston-Salem after drying tobacco and sell it in town. That was the big city for a long time. Eventually, I started driving to Charlotte when I got like 16 or 17 to go get Chick-fil-A and stuff like that.
De la Canal: So I'm curious how that connection to the South — or even that area — shows up in your music.
Chance: It's a big factor, I think. So firstly, being from Chicago, a lot of Black folks have a history of family ties to the South due to the Great Migration in the early 1900s. And so there's a Southern influence just in — we share a Southern dialect and, to a certain extent, a lot of words.
For this new album, I just put out “Star Line.” There was a lot of family history that I had to learn to get a greater understanding of my place in the world.
De la Canal: Is there a specific track that comes to mind where some of that history shows up?
Chance: Yeah, I think there's a few. So there's a song called “Tree” featuring Lil Wayne and Smino. When you first hear it, it sounds like it's just a song about weed. As you listen further, it discusses the discrepancy or disparity between the way that people have been treated by the law when it comes to selling marijuana.
Historically, it was deeply criminalized and often tied to Blackness. And as it's become a free-market billion-dollar industry, Black people have largely been shut out while still serving long, unjust sentences for selling weed. And so a lot of that comes out in my verse.
De la Canal: This is also the 10th anniversary of your third mixtape, “Coloring Book,” which was a huge success when it was released with legendary tracks. When you listen back to that album now, 10 years later, what do you hear in yourself or the music?
Chance: I think I hear a lot of different things. Sometimes I hear how different my voice sounds. Sometimes I hear things that I forget about, like a guitar solo that I forgot ever happened or backing vocals from somebody.
I forgot how many really cool background vocalists — and they're not background vocalists — but how many people contributed to the outro of the track “Blessings.”
Not only is Ty Dolla $ign doing the ‘Blessings’ vocals, but Raury, who’s an immensely talented artist, and Anderson .Paak are both just singing oohs and aahs in the background. It just reminded me how much community comes together to make a project.
De la Canal: And that album came at a time when you were making some significant life changes. You talked publicly back then about stepping away from drugs and leaning more into faith. From where you are now, what would you say to someone who might be in a similar position to where you were, trying to step away from something that is no longer serving them?
Chance: Just do it — especially if you're thinking about it. Like, it never hurts to try. And sometimes it's the best decision you can make in your life.
I think it's a lot of times easier said than done. But a lot of the joys in my life were on the other side of fear. Like, I had some sort of reservation against making what I felt like was a drastic change. And in the end, it always does end up being a drastic change.
But if you're out there and you're listening, this is probably not a coincidence that you're hearing this. It's OK to move on from things in life that you believe are supposed to change. And I think we'll both be proud of you when you do it.
De la Canal: You've also put a lot into the young people of Chicago through your nonprofit and your advocacy work. And Charlotte has also struggled with youth violence and gun violence. When you look at other cities like Charlotte dealing with these issues, I'm curious, what have you seen that actually helps? Do you have any advice for our leaders?
Chance: Yeah, I think in most cases: after-school programming, mental health initiatives, housing projects. What we've done in Chicago — our greatest work, I would say — is programming. It introduces us to kids and shows kids love. And so the more we can connect with the youth, actually showing them cool (stuff) — that's the most formative and impactful stuff that you can do with children.
De la Canal: So you're performing in Charlotte on Friday, May 22, at the Amp Ballantyne. What should people expect of this performance?
Chance: I think it's a mixture of a family reunion with the deep nostalgia that “Coloring Book” gives, with the deep thoughtfulness and consciousness of “Star Line.” One of my favorite artists, who's actually out of North Carolina — out of Winston-Salem — Tia Corine, is opening the show. I think they should expect to see me above all else.
De la Canal: Before I let you go, I've been listening to a lot of your music and some of your verses are just so rapid-fire, but also so articulate. I just want to know — do you have to do vocal warmups or tongue twisters to get ready for that?
Chance: That's a great question. No, I just try and fail over and over again. Sometimes the hardest part — and excuse my confidence, it's not the genius-level writing — it's actually just, like you said, enunciating and performing it in a way that is understandable, but almost more importantly, rhythmically pleasing.
A lot of times, the most time I'm spending is just trying to get the right take of the words.
De la Canal: Gosh. See, I was looking for tips. Sometimes I get tongue-tied in my newscasts.
Chance: No, you're all good. You're all good. It's just about trying and failing, because that's what people love — flubs.
Chance the Rapper performs Friday, May 22, at the Amp Ballantyne in Charlotte.
