The one musician staying truly authentic to himself while achieving huge recognition and success is Chance The Rapper.
After beating Drake and Kanye West to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and gaining Best Rap Performance and Best New Artist under his belt, Chance has been inundated with record deals.
He’s been named ‘the world’s first truly independent artist’, a title which he does not carry lightly as he has reportedly turned down record deals worth $10 million after his Grammy success.
An insider allegedly told the New York Post:
Every label is still trying to get him. He’s making too much on his own… He was turning down $5 million advances before, and now it’s like $10 million.
He may do something with Apple, but not a label per se… He is going to remain independent.
The Chicago MC’s album Colouring Book has received incredible critical acclaim and made him the first artist to get an album in the Billboard 200 charts based on stream alone.
Chance is managed by 26-year-old Patrick Corcoran and makes his money from ‘touring and selling merchandise’. The 23-year-old rapper told Vanity Fair that ‘if you put effort into something and you execute it properly, you don’t necessarily have to go through the traditional ways’.
It is refreshing to see a musician resisting the allure of money in the name of his artistry and independence.
