On Friday afternoon (March 17), Chance the Rapper went on Twitter to clarify his relationship with Apple Music and his status as an independent artist, after questions surfaced regarding his acclaimed 2016 project Coloring Book.
"I never felt the need to correct folks on my relationship with @apple but now that more people have tried to discredit my independence, I wanna clear things up," he began in a series of tweets.
"@apple gave me half a mil and a commercial to post Coloring Book exclusively on applemusic for 2 weeks. That was the extent of my deal, after 2 weeks it was on SoundCloud for free. I needed the money and they're all good people over there. I feel like if I didn't clear it up people would keep trying to discredit all the work we did to make Coloring Book what it became. I think artist can gain a lot from the streaming wars as long as they remain in control of their own product."
Later, the Chicago MC continued to advocate the power of being independent while also encouraging upcoming artists to fully take advantage of the opportunities being presented to them. "I just wanna remain transparent. Folks out there without a deal need to know they're doing everything right just keep at it. If you come across opportunities to work with good people, pick up cash and keep your integrity I say Do It."
Chance broke barriers with Coloring Book. Following the 2016 mixtape's release, the Grammys allowed streaming-only projects and free mixtapes to be considered for possible nominations. Earlier this year, the rapper secured three such awards, including best new artist.
In a new interview with Complex, Chance acknowledged that he would be open to selling the follow-up to Coloring Book, his proper debut album. “I might actually sell this album,” he said. "That’s, like, a big step in itself. I kind of hate the fact that I can’t chart, really. I can chart, but the way they have the streaming sh-t set up is weak as f--k. It’s unfair. 1,500 streams is the equivalent to one [album sale], and that’s just that’s unfair. Nobody listens to their songs [1,500] times when they buy it—f--k outta here! So, it makes it hard. I can’t really compete with other people. Not that the charts matter at all, but c’mon.”
Billboard has reached out to Apple for comment.
