Make no mistake about it, Chance The Rapper is the hottest artist in the game right now. Chance has always had his following, so this is nothing new. I remember going to a Childish Gambino concert in Atlanta in early 2014 at the Masquerade. Gambino fans had flooded the outdoor venue that was only standing room. Fans were passing out from the Atlanta heat and/or drugs & alcohol. While we waited for Gambino to hit the stage Chance The Rapper’s DJ open the show to warm the crowd, so for nearly two hours we heard nothing but Chance The Rapper music. For me it was my first time hearing a lot of these songs but this audience knew EVERYTHING. When I say everything I mean every single word. This is before Chance was getting any radio love and the only collaborations he was doing was with artist who had cult followings like he did. DJ Khaled wasn’t knocking on Chance’s door for collabos in 2014.
But now Chance The Rapper has become the biggest fascination for mainstream media. He’s the kid that everyone likes and says all the right things. In all my years of being a fan of Hip-Hop I think Chance The Rapper is the most wholesomely responsible 24 year old I have ever seen at the top of the rap game. Chance isn’t out here being caught up with groupies and having children with multiple women, Chance is with the mother of his child and expresses how much in love he is frequently on social media. Chance The Rapper gives up so much glory to God whenever he is spoken to that he has even been ask by interviewers if he is a gospel artist. Long story short Chance The Rapper is the safest artist we have seen since Will Smith, and he is safer than Will and has politics in his blood. For those that aren’t aware Chance The Rapper’s father is Ken Williams-Bennett who was an aide to former Chicago mayor Harold Washington and worked for then-Senator Barack Obama (which explains Chance’s frequent shoutouts from The Obamas). Chance’s father is now a deputy chief of staff to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Not to doubt Chance’s incredibly generous $1 million donation to Chicago Public Schools but with this level of political ties would one be out of line to question the possible political motives of this act? Is the money coming from Chance’s pockets or boosters? Is this some sort of front of sorts? Regardless, children in Chicago Public Schools are getting the help they need.
Michelle Obama message for @chancetherapper @ the #BETAwards pic.twitter.com/HHgQyWBlmr
— Big Boss (@LordBalvin) June 26, 2017
But back to this BET Humanitarian Award. Let’s define humanitarian; a person actively engaged in promoting human welfare and social reforms, as a philanthropist. By definition it checks out, but what level of sacrifices were made in this mission? To receives an award like this so early in your career (while receiving best “new artist” in the same night) I just think there needs to be more to go on.
Let’s take NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for example. Kaepernick (whether you agree with him or not) took a stance on injustice that he felt wasn’t being given the proper attention in America. Colin Kaepernick felt that the unarmed people of color that were being killed by law enforcement in plain sight in America and getting away with it wasn’t an example of “liberty and justice for all”. So instead of standing for a pledge that he personally felt wasn’t living up to it’s creed he simply made the personal choice to sit down (later kneeling). Being as educated on protest and American history as Colin Kaepernick is he knew that this sacrifice would effect his professional career but went along with his protest anyway. Kaepernick standing in solidarity with injustices that effect people of color was not going to sit well with the NFL and many of the NFL viewers. Not only did we see fans turn on Colin Kaepernick but we saw many of his peers and fellow athletes do the same. Big name athletes were afraid to stand by Kaepernick and many BLACK athletes who had nothing to say about police brutality quickly expressed their outrage in Kaepernick not standing for the American flag.
Kaepernick also put his money where his mouth was and pledged last fall to donate $1 million of his salary, plus all the royalties he receives from his jersey sales to various community outreach charities. In addition Kaepernick has donated $100,000 to Meals On Wheel to help famine in Somalia and $25,000 donations to organizations in California, Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, and New York with specific details of how the money it being used. Kaepernick said in a statement “We’re being very particular with the organizations we’re donating to, making sure they’re very grass roots, and also wanted to be very transparent with what we’re doing and where the money was going to within those organizations so people can really see that this money is going towards those communities and trying to help people”. “There’s a lot of communities that are affected by issues, issues of oppression. And we wanted to make sure we try to help and touch as many communities as we can. I wanted to make sure I touched Milwaukee and the Bay Area first, being those are two places that are close to home for me, but also being able to reach places like Chicago, New York, Texas, where these issues have really be rampant.”
I get it, this is television and BET doesn’t want to upset their sponsors. BET’s Humanitarian Award was presented by Walmart and many of Walmart’s customers may not have been pleased with a man that has a reputation for not standing for the American flag receiving an award with their name on it. Also I doubt that First Lady Michelle Obama would have been able to introduce such a controversial figure like Colin Kaepernick in the fashion that she did the safe Chance The Rapper. Kaepernick still doesn’t have an NFL job and whether people want to say it or not we know that the stance that he took standing up for people of color and the unapologetic fashion he did it has a lot to do with his current unemployment. You can protest in America but they have to tell what way is deemed acceptable to do so. Once you go the acceptable route then your cause gets swept under the rug. But if you go the other route your voice is heard but you are demonized (unless you die of course). This is all an example of BET being afraid to stand by or with Colin Kaepernick on a big stage when it’s not fashionable or trendy. The network choose to go the safest route possible to protect themselves. The funny part of it all is these same people/networks that praise MLK, Ali, Malcolm, etc would have been afraid to stand by these individuals during the prime of their work, and situations like this prove it.
