Chance The Rapper has taken to social media to respond to the negative reaction his long-awaited debut album has received from fans.
Late last month, Chance The Rapper finally released his debut album, The Big Day. Many years in the making, the record comes after numerous mixtapes, singles, and collaborations, and just one week after a cancelled Splendour In The Grass appearance.
While fans had been hanging out for this record for quite a long time, it wasn’t quite what many of them expected to be. Sure, it managed to hit #7 on the ARIA charts, and #2 on the Billboard charts, but many fans took issue with its content.
While triple j even held a roundtable discussion on the record, many thought the album was too long, too lacking, and featured far too many references to his wife, Kirsten Corley.
Most notably though, Anthony Fantano – who had given Chance’s Coloring Book and Acid Rap mixtapes ratings of 7 and 7 out of 10, respectively – gave the record a solid 0/10. Not exactly the sort of recommendation you’d put on your resumé.
However, it appears as though behind the smiling façade he usually puts up, Chance The Rapper is not dealing too well with the negative responses his record has received.
Check out Chance The Rapper’s Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/1158392114998329345
https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/1158392477470089217
https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/1158393031202095104
https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/1158393727930589189
https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/1158394160807731200
https://twitter.com/chancetherapper/status/1158399684479717377
Taking to Twitter this morning, Chance The Rapper opened up about the backlash by posting a startling message that he’s “getting this crazy feeling that people want me to kill myself.”
“That’s not my vibe at all, but i feel the push,” he explained. “And I feel like even more than that, some people want me to feel ashamed.
“Shame is heavy yo. And feeling shame for something that you were once prideful about is super heavy.
“What’s really weird is that music is the number one thing that influences how I feel on the daily. Like can really push me to one side or the other. And thats super raw to me. Cause I’m sure there’s other people that get their fuel from music.”
Despite this, Chance went on to note that he’s appreciative for everyone who has shared their support in recent days, helping him to stay grounded during this rough patch.
“So for anybody out there thats texted me the past few days, I appreciate you,” he explained. “And I’m happy being able to spend time with my family and do alot of the things I used to do before I got so wrapped up in making this project
“And I wanna let some of these feelings go cause thats whats twitter is for. For people to say exactly whats on their hearts.”
However, in true Chance The Rapper fashion, he was able to put a positive spin on the whole debacle, closing out his series of messages by once again referencing the one thing that many fans have latched onto from the new record.
“And the number one thing thats been on my heart and has been reaffirmed in the last week that I’m now 100% sure of is.. That I LOVE my wife.”
“I just want to reiterate that I don’t want to kill myself, nor am I ashamed of loving my wife,” he concluded. “I think I just wanted to say out loud that I see the vibes.”
While it is of course easy to throw down negative reactions to an album like The Big Day by a big-name artist like Chance The Rapper, it is important to remember that a real person with human emotions is behind all of the work you’ve heard and potentially not been a fan of.
Here’s hoping that the negative messages directed towards Chance ease up soon and that he’s able to get back to doing what he loves.
Check out ‘Ballin Flossin’ by Chance The Rapper:
