Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa organized the Black Star Line Festival in Ghana, hosted a week ago. While the festival was a celebration of art, culture, and unity in the Black community, it did receive some criticism. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Chicago MC addressed concerns over inviting Dave Chappelle and other issues.
Moreover, Chappelle's inclusion comes after years of a controversial history regarding jokes towards the LGBTQ+ community. Such issues permeate Ghana, where an anti-LGBTQ+ bill is supported by a large party coalition. Also, there's the issue of outsiders exacerbating local issues of economic inequality and poor living conditions in Ghana. Many believe that the Black Star Line Festival only adds fuel to this fire.
While all these elements provided inflammatory public discourse, the "No Problem" rapper spoke to Rolling Stone about the festival's success.
"It was a really dope and deep moment," the artist expressed. Also, he made a comment of how his sets ended up delayed. By the time Chance performed at 5 a.m. local time, many had already left. However, that mean there was room for more unticketed guests.
"And by that time, obviously the crowd going from 50,000 to 1,500 — it’s a lot of space. I think by that time the guards and everybody are like…there’s no real reason to keep people out at that point. I think they let a few hundred people in that had stayed all night because the video towers also allowed you to see the show from outside of the square. I’m still processing the whole thing, everything. It didn’t go all as planned, but it went perfectly.
"I’ve thrown five festivals and this is the second or third free one that I’ve done," he continued. "But none of them have been to the scale of 50,000 plus people. Then for it to be overwhelmingly black and for it to be on the continent. And for a lot of people that was their first time in Ghana, whether they were American or of the diaspora. It was completely organized and put together by black folks on the continent. I think everybody was just very happy."
Later in the interview, Chance addressed the concerns of outsiders impacting the quality of life for Ghanan citizens.
"Most of those festivals are native to Ghana," he said. "There’s only myself and Vic’s Black Star Line Festival and Afro Nation are the only two that I know of that aren’t actually posited by people that are from Ghana. But that was something that was on my mind from the jump when we made it. I always wanted this festival to be something that, for one, provided access to people that don’t typically get to go to these concerts because a lot of the events around that time do price people out."
Chance also said he "wanted to work with a 100% Ghanaian team in terms of not even just the production managers or directors, but also all the stagehands, all the equipment coming from production companies in Ghana. I can’t speak for all the festivals, but our festival created a whole lot of jobs and put a lot of people to work.
"The goal overall is to just create community. I think that within this trip... a lot of the people that came from the diaspora, most of the people, if not all of them, were very respectful of the space and a lot of relationships were built. A lot of people created substantial relationships and connections that I think will live long after this festival... It’s something that we just have to remain in conversation about. I think it’s important that those issues are raised, and those conversations are had."
Afterwards, Chance spoke on Chappelle's inclusion in the festival and how they reached different conclusions to what many assume.
"I think it’s something that Dave was actually shining a light on," he stated. "That’s where that conversation came from. Dave was making a comment about the comedy scene in Ghana when he said, “I bet gay jokes go over so well here,” to which everybody laughed about. And he was making a point to say that in Ghana, you can make jokes about things that are about gay people, about trans people, about a lot of social constructs, just about anything in the world. But you can’t make a comment about the government there. That’s not funny and that’s not respected, and it can be dangerous. It’s the complete opposite where we come from, where we can speak about the government all we want.
"I can’t really all the way speak for Dave. I don’t want to say what he thinks or what he feels, but what I think I know about him is that he loves everybody, especially his people, meaning Black people, meaning Black people that are trans, Black people that are gay, Black people that are gender non-conforming, people period. And I think that in that space, I would say I don’t believe that he bashed trans people or gay people at all throughout the entire conversation."
What do you think of Chance the Rapper's comments about the backlash to his Black Star Line Festival in Ghana? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments and check out the full interview below. Also, as always, check back in with HNHH for more important conversations surrounding the community.