UPDATED at 9:29 p.m. ET: Chance the Rapper has responded to the Rolling Stone article, claiming his quote about working with R. Kelly was taken out of context.
He shared an extended clip of his quote on Twitter.
"We're programed to really be hypersensitive to black male oppression—it's just prevalent in all media. And when you see n***as getting beat up by the police, it's men," Chance said in the video. "[...] Slavery, for a lot of people, they envision men in chains; but black women are, you know, exponentially a higher oppressed and violated group of people, like, just in comparison to the whole world. Maybe I didn't care because I didn't value the accusers' stories because they were black women."
Read the original story below.
Chance the Rapper said that he regrets working with R. Kelly in an upcoming episode of Lifetime's six-part series Surviving R. Kelly.
In an interview with critic Jamilah Lemieux, Chance copped to not considering the stories of Kelly's accusers before working with the singer on his 2015 track "Somewhere In Paradise."
“Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake. I didn’t value the accusers’ stories because they were black women,” he said. “I made a mistake.”
Kelly was a titan in Chicago, and it's clear that Chance once held him in high regard, even going so far as to bring Kelly out as a special guest during his 2014 appearance at Lollapalooza.
Rolling Stone points out that it's unclear whether the clip was filmed for the series or if it is unearthed, archival footage. What is clear is that Chano has changed his tune about the Pied Piper since working with him. His appearance in the documentary marks him as one of only a handful of A-listers who appear in the documentary.
Producer dream hampton said that JAY-Z, Lil Kim, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu and Questlove all declined to appear in the documentary. (Questlove later clarified that he opted out because producers wanted him to talk about the musical talent of R. Kelly.) Of all the asks, only John Legend agreed. The singer said on Twitter that he felt no qualms about helping to out R. Kelly.
“To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn’t feel risky at all,” he wrote. “I believe these women and don’t give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.”
