Michael Jackson's at the center of controversy these days due to Dan Reed's Leaving Neverland documentary. Many prominent figures in the entertainment industry, including some of Michael Jackson's collaborators, began to distance themselves from his name after the controversy broke out, once again. In a recent interview with Forbes, Chance The Rapper revealed that his philanthropic inspiration comes from the "Man In The Mirror" singer.
Chance The Rapper attended his first WE Day in Los Angeles where 16,000 students from 475 California schools attended the event. Chance spoke about his appreciation for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as Drake and Kanye West. But what really stood out in his conversation was when he revealed his philanthropic inspiration. Michael Jackson did a lot of charity work while he was alive and Chance The Rapper said that he considers the pop icon a role model when it comes to blending art and philanthropy.
"The greatest of all time, highest I think maybe for overall celebrities, but most philanthropic musician is Michael Joseph Jackson. I think he donated over $600 million to charities and more afterwards," he said. "Obviously in his music it was extremely provocative, gets the people going. The only person I can really think of off the top when I think of charity that's a musician is Michael Jackson. That's how I've always thought about it cause most of the people that I grew up listening to were hip-hop artists and I don't really remember there being a lot of...Ye gave back to the people, but it was in a very different way. It was always through his music. I can't really think of anybody else."