Chance the Rapper: "I Never Wanted to Sell my Music"

“I thought putting a price on it put a limit on it and inhibited me from making a connection,” explains Chance

(whose real name is Chancellor Johnathan Bennett). The politically active 23-year-old Chicago native talks politics, rap, and free music…

You campaigned for Hillary Clinton and you helped get out the vote in Illinois. Do you think performers have an obligation to be politically involved?

CHANCE THE RAPPER: I think our duty as American citizens is to be involved and engaged in anything that affects us. As an artist, I have to use my platform, and as a dad, a brother, and a black man, I have to be as socially woke and present as possible. I don’t feel great about [the results of the election], but in all honesty, I wasn’t that surprised that Trump won. I’m not a pessimist . . . but I’m always woke and waiting to find something fishy going on so I can let motherfuckers know.

Your father, Ken Williams-Bennett, ran early Senate campaigns for Barack Obama and was a head of personnel in President Obama’s first term in the White House. Is he proud of your success?

CHANCE: My dad is probably the most proud person when it comes to me, and we have a great relationship. If people have a compliment about my character, they usually say they can tell I was raised right, and that’s the truth.

How and why do you still give your music away for free? And how do you make money?

CHANCE: After I made my second mixtape and gave it away online, my plan was to sign with a label and figure out my music from there. But after meeting with the three major labels, I realized my strength was being able to offer my best work to people without any limit on it. My first two projects are on places where you can get music for free. With Coloring Book, Apple had it on their streaming service exclusively for two weeks for free—and then it was available on all the places my earlier work is still available on. I make money from touring and selling merchandise, and I honestly believe if you put effort into something and you execute properly, you don’t necessarily have to go through the traditional ways.

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Keith Sweat on today’s R&B: "Not the R&B that I know it to be" in Exclusive Interview

Exclusive Q&A w/ Keith Sweat about coming up in the game, what he thinks about R&B music today, and what fans who have yet to see his Vegas show, Keith Sweat: Last Forever can expect.

Take me back to 1987 when the album Make It Last Forever was released. 
It was a time of a new artist coming out with new music trying to make an impact on the music scene. So me dropping an album in 87, or music in 87, was to make a statement and somewhat different than what was out because you had a harder drum beat in the back of R&B music and sultry type of music. The music scene at the time when I came out was good but I helped to make it better. I don’t take credit for it because you had people like the O’Jays out and New Edition, those type of people. I just added to what was already out there with a different type of vibe. I kind of flipped the script a little bit along with people that I worked with like Teddy Riley.

What was it like working with him? 
Me and Teddy knew each other from back in the day so it wasn’t like I just went and grabbed him. We grew up in Harlem. We were already friends.

You have so many hits to date. What’s your all-time favorite song to perform live?
It varies. It definitely varies because I wrote basically every song. It’s not like I’m singing someone else’s music. I’m singing my own music. It really has a lot to do with the audience. Every show you might have a different audience who has their favorites. I might get screams from a song like “Nobody” and other places I go it might be “Twisted” or “Make It Last Forever.”

What was it like working with Johnny Gill and Gerald Levert during the LSG days?
It was great because they were two artists who had their own niche in the music industry. For me to be working with people who had been accomplished and out before I was out…I was a fan of Johnny Gill and I was a fan of Gerald Levert so working with people that I was a great fan of and for me to put together a group like LSG was phenomenal to me because I never thought I would be able to do anything of that sort … putting a supergroup that millions and millions of people would enjoy.

What do you think about the R&B scene today?
It’s less R&B and more pop-driven. It’s not as R&B-ish as it was back in the day. It’s not the R&B that I know it to be, and the people that grew up in my era or before my era, or even a little bit after my era, knew it to be. Everything pretty much sounds very simple. Like back in the day, you knew who Dru Hill was, even though they had their own sound they were similar to Jodeci or Silk or even New Edition, everyone had their own identity in terms of music and everything sounded kind of different. Nowadays you get confused because all of the artists sound alike, and have the same producers. Back in the day you had Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, you had Teddy Riley, you had Quincey Jones, you had so many different producers, producing for different people that everyone had their unique sound.

Who are you listening to nowadays? Are you more old-school or into some of the new artists? 
I’m more of an…

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DJ Kay Slay Takes Action on Ignorance in Hip Hop

Hip-Hop veteran DJ Kay Slay is fed up with the ignorance of a younger generation of rappers, and he’s doing something about it.
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The “Drama King” behind the magazine Straight Stuntin, is launching a new business venture to educate younger rappers.
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According to Kay, he’s launching a brand new radio show called “What’s the Science,” that will focus on educating whoever wants to learn about the essence of Hip-Hop.
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“Due to the lack of Knowledge in the Hip-Hop culture I’m starting a new show titled ‘What’s the Science’ dedicated to educating whoever would like to seek the knowledge of the essence of Hip-Hop,” DJ Kay Slay explained

“Each episode I will be sitting down with legendary MC’s/DJ’s/Break Dancers/Graffiti Artists/Producers and OG’s with Knowledge of Self.” DJ Kay Slay is more than qualified to tackle the sub…

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DENA Artists send shout outs @ BringingItTogether November 2016 Free Artist Photo Shoot

Artists and members of the community who attended the #BringingItTogether November 2016 Free “Never Understand” ft. Imani Akil off of his latest project Beautiful Struggle mixtape,
Artist Photo Shoot sends shout outs on video. Like Bing Bing said in

“Now, we bringin’ it together, and can’t nothin stop us, take pictures in any weatherWhether, tha weather is wetter or better than ever…”

Hip Hop Hall of Fame Unveils New Design Concept for Manhattan

After two decades of development, the Official Hip Hop Hall of Fame (“HHHOF”) is poised to become “the Hip-Hop institution of record for the 21st century,” as reported in Billboard Magazine.

The organization kicks off November 2016 ‘Hip Hop History Month’ by unveiling its long awaited ‘State of the Art’ Hip Hop Hall of Fame + Museum & Hotel Entertainment Complex design concept for its Manhattan location in New York City.

The Hip Hop Hall of Fame was Established in 1992 by Founder J.T. Thompson, who created and executive produced the first Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards Induction Ceremony & Concert on the BET Cable Network in the 1990’s to be the annual fundraising catalyst for the establishment of a Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum in New York City; modeled after the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Museum which produced 20 years of awards shows before eventually opening their Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Hip Hop Hall of Fame + Museum and Entertainment Complex vision of the design concept is to include the Hall of Fame, Museum, 5 Star Hotel, Retail Stores & Gift Shop, Arcade, TV Studios, Sports Bar, Restaurant & Concert Lounge with a goal of serving up to 1,000,000 local, national, and international visitors annually including music fans, tourists, students, culture enthusiasts, and families on educational & entertainment excursion tours.

The facility will produce permanent and part time jobs, provide valuable internships and community volunteer opportunities, with a goal to host up to 150+ live events, shows, concerts, and educational programs annually for people of all ages. The project is expected to yield a significant socio-economic financial impact in…

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