Chance the Rapper traded the mic for conversation on Saturday, Oct. 11, during an exclusive talk with students at Columbia about his new album, “Star Line,” and the role of artists as truth tellers.
“In a time like this, it’s very important that as journalists, which is what musicians are to me, we use our words carefully,” Chance told the audience of about 100 students who gathered at the 1014 S. Michigan Ave. building.
Chance said “No More Old Men” featuring Jamila Woods, which is on the new “Star Line” album, is the best song he’s ever written. He described it as “a very real song” about the positive parts of life that people miss out on when they are grieving the loss of a loved one, especially Black males who lose their lives due to living in toxic environments and gun violence.
“They say chi don’t dance no more, and the little kids don’t got a chance no more. They ain’t even tryna free the old man no more—one day there won’t be no old man no more.”
Chance said the song captures a future perspective of life where “we could be in a position where we’re not scared or paranoid or alone or dying young, we could just go on”.
Part-time instructor Andre Daniels who teaches in Columbia’s School of Audio and Music and has collaborated with Chance through his own music career, organized the event on short notice.
“I had been talking to Chance and his team about doing different engagements in the city, and we came up with a way to combine our mutual interests like GRAMMY U, music education and talking about the new album,” Daniels told the Chronicle.
On his current “AND WE BACK TOUR”, Chance performed at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island in Chicago the day before, giving him time to come to Columbia while he was in the city. “Star Line” was released in August.
The audio staff at Columbia scrambled to make the event as well-organized as possible in the few days they had to plan. Students were sent an RSVP link via email the day before the event, limiting the event to 100 students, first come, first served.
Grant Heus, an audio engineer at Columbia, said that he received notice of the event on Oct. 8, giving him two days to plan accordingly for the interview.
Daniels led the interview with Chance where he talked about his music career and a deeper look inside the lyrics on “Star Line.”
A Chicago native known for his poetic lyrics and independent rise in hip-hop, Chance released his first mixtape in 2012 at age 18. Since then, he’s earned three Grammys and critical acclaim for his genre-bending work.
Chance is known to address current political situations within his music, creating personal connections for listeners.
During his Chicago set on Friday, he addressed the audience about the current political state of the city.
“I want to take a second to call out my brothers. Fellas, do we love our women? Fellas, do we protect our women? I hope so. And in this world when they go out sometimes without us, we wish we could be there to protect them. But sometimes all we can tell them is ‘Put this gun in your purse, put this gun in your purse, put this gun in your purse,’” Chance said.
During his song “Drapetomania”, Chance also had the audience echo him screaming “fuck ICE” in response to the ICE presence in the city.
Jamarkus Kline, a sophomore marketing major, gained motivation for his personal career after hearing from Chance at Columbia.
“He started from something small and then looking at him now as something big, it shows that if I want to become an entrepreneur, I can create something small and continue doing what I’m doing to make it bigger,” Kline said.
Kline’s takeaway echoed Chance’s own message about humility and purpose in creative work.
“When you’re an artist, it’s important to remember that you weren’t always famous, but you were always an artist,” Chance said. “It is important to win Grammys and be on TV because it’s going to help spread your art, but it doesn’t validate your art. It doesn’t change what the art is.”
Copy edited by Manuel Nocera
