Chance the Rapper Slams Chicago Mayor For Proposed $95M Police Academy

On Wednesday (Nov. 8), Chance the Rapper addressed the Chicago City Council in regards to a proposed plan suggesting the city build a $95 million police academy in Garfield Park. 

Donning his signature Chance 3 hat, the "Blessings" MC issued a fistful of barbs towards Mayor Rahm Emanuel after he left the chambers, leaving the Chicago rapper dumbfounded by his escape. “I guess the mayor had to step out when I came up. But, it’s cool. It’s cool. It’s cool because I’m here to talk to you,” he said.

Then, Chano gleaned over some of the pressing issues plaguing the city, mainly its impotence in the field of education. “I’ve been asking for money for over a year now to fund these classrooms and, on the 4th of July weekend, they announced in like a cool financing way that ... they’re proposing to build a $95 million cop academy," he explained to the aldermen in the room. 

"The school, with just $100,000 in three years, is about to make some transformative changes," he said in reference to Orr Academy High School, using it as an example of the progress being made within the city's troubled school system. "It would be awesome, though, if we could get them pools at their school, or a new library, or a museum, or any of the things that are proposed in the budget for this $95 million cop academy."

He continued by saying, "Financially, this proposed plan doesn’t make sense. We don’t have $95 million. They’re just asking for $10 million today to purchase the land. But we don’t have the rest of the money to do it so, why let them go ahead with this right now? There’s a lot of different services that need to be funded.”

Earlier this year, Chano donated $1 million to Chicago Public Schools days after having a "vague" meeting with Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to discuss funding options. Check out his full speech from Wednesday below. 

Photo: Getty Images