Few things in life are as satisfying as flipping through a bin of vinyl albums and CDs and discovering some hidden gem you've been hunting for years, or a new release with a wild cover that you've never heard of before. Recently, Billboard caught up with Chance The Rapper who invited them to watch as he went digging through crates alongside his manager Pat at Reckless Records in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago.
"I thought it'd be dope to come in here with my buddies and buy a bunch of music that I've never heard before and give it out to people for free because why not?" Chance said. After that preamble, Chance enters the store and begins digging through their stock. Along the way he picks out a vinyl copy of J Dilla's legendary Donuts album, the soundtrack to the motion picture Jesus Christ Superstar, Wu-Tang Clan's immortal debut 36 Chambers on CD, and the O'Jay's Back Stabbers to name a few.
With records in hand, Chance then hits the streets and begins to shout, "Free music! Get your free music!" In no time, a group of people shows up and Chance starts dipping into his cardboard box of goodies, playing Santa Claus handing out Lenny Kravitz and John Legend CDs. It's one thing to give away your own albums for free like Chance has done with his mixtapes like 10 Day, Acid Rap, and Coloring Book, it's a whole different story when you start giving away other people's work on your own dime. It's just another reason why he's considered one of the most beloved new artists on the scene today.
