Chance The Rapper has widely been applauded for his work as an independent artist. The Chicagoan won three Grammy awards this year, including Best Rap Album for Coloring Book, which he had dubbed a mixtape and didn’t have available for purchase.
In the wake of his success (and just a few weeks after donating $1 million to Chicago Public Schools), Chano felt the need to share some of the details of Coloring Book‘s release, which was an Apple Music exclusive for two weeks.
He explains that he accepted $500,000 and a commercial from Apple Music, which charges $9.99 per month for a standard subscription. As soon as the deal was up, Chance posted the project to SoundCloud where his fans could stream the project for free.
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“I needed the money and they’re all good people over there,” he shares.
I never felt the need to correct folks on my relationship with @apple but now that more people have tried to discredit my independence..
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
I wanna clear things up. @apple gave me half a mil and a commercial to post Coloring Book exclusively on applemusic for 2 weeks https://t.co/dMWwptrHHH
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
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 https://t.co/5kIhv0YaKS
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
Chance further explains why he wanted to disclose these details and encourages fellow independent artists to maintain control of their art. He assures it’s not a bad thing to make strategic partnerships and “If you come across oprtunities to work with good people, pick up cash and keep your integrity I say Do It.”
I feel like if I didnt clear it up people would keep trying to discredit all the work we did to make Coloring Book what it became https://t.co/05v81I38ur
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
I think artist can gain a lot from the streaming wars as long as they remain in control of their own product. https://t.co/6agVO3uIdf
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
I just wanna remain transparent. Folks out there without a deal need to know they're doing everything right just keep at it. https://t.co/5udstMPX62
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
If you come across oprtunities to work with good people, pick up cash and keep your integrity I say Do It https://t.co/yF0gBPkLhY
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) March 17, 2017
Chano is reportedly working a new project now, which will be his first “album.”