After a standout verse on The Life of Pablo and a flawless rollout of a nearly flawless mixtape, Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper is now possibly the most famous and successful independent rapper on the planet. Chance is celebrated for his independence as much as for his singular musical style. But as he revealed in an interview conducted yesterday at the University of Chicago, he came very close to signing a contract with Sony, one of the three major music labels in the world, back in 2012.
Sitting down with Bakari Kitwana at U of Chicago Institute of Politics, Chance told the story of how he nearly signed to Sony after the release of his debut mixtape 10 Day. He hadn't yet released Acid Rap.
It was a time when Chance was getting courted my nearly every label in the game. He recalled meeting with Sylvia Rhone and L.A. Reid, the top executives of Sony imprint Epic Records.
"Acid Rap wasn’t out yet, so they hadn’t heard it, but I was hyped on it, and I was like, 'These people really fuck with me. These people really love me. These people really love me. These people really understand what I’m trying to do,' and they were talking about printing up contracts," Chance said. "And my dad called me while I was in this meeting. He was just like, 'Son, I know you’re in New York. I know you’re doing something really important, but remember, don’t sign anything!'”
The whole interview is hilarious. Chance touches on the difference between mastering and publishing rights, social media, his charity, friends, album artwork, and much more. Watch the whole thing below.