I always wanted to be more of a person that people enjoy. Somebody that will make you laugh. I'm talking about just my personality, not necessarily how my music sounds.
Chance The RapperRead
I don't make Christian rap, but I am a Christian rapper.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes personal identity over genre classification in music.
Chance The Rapper's statement reveals the complexity of identity, particularly within the realms of faith and art. He distinguishes himself as a Christian while also asserting that his music does not fit neatly into the category of 'Christian rap.' This suggests that spirituality can influence creativity without being limited to a specific genre, highlighting the idea that an artist's identity can be multifaceted and not defined solely by their artistic expression.
In practice
Use this quote during a panel discussion on the intersection of faith and music.
I always wanted to be more of a person that people enjoy. Somebody that will make you laugh. I'm talking about just my personality, not necessarily how my music sounds.
You can love somebody through anything when they're your child, and now that I understand that, it makes me work better with people; it makes me more understanding of how much dedication and love I can put into each line. There's no throwaway lines.
I've come to understand that art is awesome and beautiful because it's a reflection of life - but it's just a reflection, and the real thing is my daughter.
When I was working on 'Coloring Book,' I knew that I wanted it to be a beacon for independent artists and music makers with their own agenda.
When you're a Chicago artist, to play Lollapalooza, that's not a normal thing. It's artists on a path to a certain place that do that. Chief Keef did it; Kids These Days did it; Cool Kids did it. And I'm the next Cool-Kids-Chief, if you will.
People don't want rap to be anything other than it is. But genres expand. My contributions, no matter how they sound, will always be rap, because they'll always be black.
One of the first people that believed in me, the first person to invest in my talent, me and this guy used to argue all the time in the studio, but at the end of the day, we both realized that we were after the same goal, and that was to make great music. And I'm talking about Eazy-E.
I didn't want to disrespect my parents, so I never played blues around the house. But I knew then, same as I know today, that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I think that before they died, they both felt very proud of me.
With few exceptions, every major pop singer in the US during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius. It is Billie Holiday who was, and still remains, the greatest single musical influence on me. Lady Day is unquestionably the most important influence on American popular singing in the last twenty years.
I'm not 'Grace.' That album is like a brick onto itself. It's like a coffin that I put certain feelings and observations in so that they can be capsulized forever. I wanted to put them there so I would be free to move on.
I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years.And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you.
Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
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