Watch Chance the Rapper Perform, Talk President Obama’s Playlist on GMA
Chance the Rapper delivered an intimate live version of “Summer Friends” Monday on Good Morning America. Backed on vocoder by Francis Farewell Starlite (of Francis and the Lights) and silky piano from Social Experiment collaborator Peter Cottontale, Chance fired off frenzied verses and replicated Jeremih’s soulful hook from the Coloring Book mixtape.
“Summer Friends” is about Chance’s childhood, contrasting innocent summertime nostalgia with the violence of his hometown Chicago. “Ice cream truck and the beauty supply/ Blockbuster movies and Harold’s again,” he reflects. “We still catching lightning bugs when the plague hit the backyard.”
Chance also spoke to GMA about a range of topics including his genre-bending style (“I make rap music for everybody”), Coloring Book becoming the first streaming-only album to crack the Billboard 200 and religion being a taboo in rap music.
“All my music, to a certain extent, is about freedom,” he said. “There’s a lot of taboos in hip-hop that people try to stay away from. People are afraid to speak about God to a certain extent. If you’re not free to speak about God then you’re not free.”
Elsewhere, he talked about performing his new, Muhammad Ali-inspired song at the ESPYs. And he enthused about his inclusion in President Obama’s eclectic summer playlist. “I didn’t see that coming … probably the coolest playlist I’ve ever been included in.”
WATCH: @chancetherapper was pretty surprised to be on @POTUS Barack Obama‘s summer playlist! #ChanceOnGMA https://t.co/8h4IZGb9wL
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 15, 2016
“By always staying on music side of it, I’ve found success.” – @chancetherapper on being independent. #ChanceOnGMA https://t.co/Hsip4uzGSQ
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 15, 2016
WATCH: “It was one of the best moments I’ve ever had.” – @chancetherapper on Muhammad Ali. #ChanceOnGMA https://t.co/KPLT9GE3iS
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 15, 2016