Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Big Boys Neighborhood on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Big Boys Neighborhood. All right now, man, I'm gonna cut
right to a chance the rapper. Welcome back to the neighborhood.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Man.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
It's our pleasure, man, It's our pleasure, bro. And the
one thing I got to say about you, man, is
it's go time. Huh Yeah, it is go time.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Brother. Believe that now a new album is star Line.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
And what's the reason behind the title, man.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
It was I love when people ask me that the
title comes from from this old trip shipping and trading
company in the twenties owned by black folks, started by
Marcus Garvey, and it was called the Black Star Line.
It was like a fleet of ships that did trade
between the States and the islands and Central and South America.
But it was started by these black pan Africans that
(00:44):
had this idea creating a global community and the Black
Star that they, you know, named it after they that
became kind of like a symbol across a bunch of
different territories religions like you know, Rastafarians came from from
Marcus Garvey and his prophetic words from you know, Ghana
(01:06):
and a lot of countries in Africa, you know, have
the black star and their flag to just represent that solidarity,
and so I just wanted to keep that star, that
movement going. And it's so cool, like so many people
you know, associate with the stars and think of it
as like a you know, a symbol of freedom or
you know, escapism, and so it relates to so many
(01:26):
different people. But whenever I get to tell the story,
like people's eyes always get weird, like, oh, okay, there's real history.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And it's direct and intentional from chance to rap for
it though, yeah, you know what I'm saying. And then
when you think about where where you are today, bro,
is is it a gift in the curse when you
have that with the success too?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Though?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Yeah, I mean it's it's funny, like I think about
it all the time. Like I'm a person that since
I was a kid, I knew what I wanted to do.
I knew I wanted to Yeah, I was like fourth grade.
I was like, man, I want to be you know,
I want to be a famous rapper. You know what
I mean. I want to be on stage. I want
to you know, make words.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
So you knew this nine ten years of age?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, did you did? You grow up with music like
in the household and everything.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
My mom was like a real music lover and like
obviously most people, maybe not most people, but my introduction
of music was through Mike, through Michael Jackson, and so
I used to dance and talent shows and stuff like that.
Any video that, yeah, there's a ton of video I
used to win.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Really oh yeah, he was like, yeah, google it. You
know how there's some things you want to run away from.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
You're like, yeah, bro, I used to win, be like you,
but you knew that you wanted to be famous.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I did, yeah, man, I was.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
Also a kid, though you like, fame in your mind
as a kid is based off of what you see
in movies and music videos. It's not you know, a
real uh I guess like taste of it until you're
like really going and then yeah, you don't really get
to control what that fame means to yourself or to
other people. It's just kind of happening, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Chance continue to hang out with us, man, we got
more to cover. They'll continue to hang out with us.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
In the neighborhood. We got a chance to rapper in
the neighborhood, Big Boys neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Big Boys Neighborhood on demand. For more, subscribe to our
YouTube channel, big Boy TV, and check out Radio Bigboy
dot com.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Big Boys Neighborhood start Line is a new project. We're
back in the Neighborhood with Chance the Rapper. I remember young,
being young man, I always wanted to do and it
was the same thing, you know, saying, you know, I rapped,
I did everything, DJ, everything, act. But I knew I
wanted to be famous. And at one point, you know,
and I tell the neighborhood. I tell people that come
to the neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Man.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
At one point, we were homeless, and it's my mom's
seven kids, you know. And I remember we're living in
a motel and I told my mom, I said, Mom,
I said, one day I wanna be famous and I'm
going to buy you a household. We'll never get evicted again.
And I remember my mom told me, she said, you know, yeah,
I know you will. And at some point, you know,
it's real life going on. It could have been like baby, please,
you know, we're in the motel, real things are going on.
(03:56):
How we're gonna make today's rent. But that gave me
just a difference drive and I knew that I wanted
something to do with that, you know.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Since I was I was just thinking when you said that,
like somebody that's an adult believing in your like super
crazy dreams when you're a kid is a real like
that's a real fuel. It like burns something in you.
And I was talking about it a lot on the album.
But like when I was in school, I had I
was in special classes for like you know, specialized education.
(04:26):
I had an individualized education plan. So my confidence was
really low in terms of how I my relationship to
learning and I could grasp concepts and I feel like
I was smart, and I feel like i'm smart now,
But when I was a kid, that kind of like
that like threw me off and stuff, and so there
was like I remember very well my third grade teacher,
Miss Patterson, told me one day I was gonna be
(04:47):
famous after seeing me dance at the talent show in
my high school. Dean of discipline, who I was in
her office all the time when I was in high school,
used to tell me like, sign you're gonna you know,
you're gonna do something with this.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
When you said Dean of discipline, Hell yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah, No, I was office a lot, but It's wild though, too,
because kids could be some of the most brutal and
the most brutally honest. So when you're going to school
with your peers and and what grade are you when
you have the classes?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I started in fourth grade and then it went all
the way through high school.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
So this is this is the whole so called bully
time and everything it really been.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
So what does that do to your self esteem?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
And it's wild because there's such a creative process too.
And when you speak, we hear the intelligence, and there's
probably somebody on the campus that's teasing you that you
can get a better score.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Then we probably already know you did better.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Life, you know, But what does that do in actual
time to someone that's living that from you know, fourth
grade to twelfth grade.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
I think it works in two different ways. Like in
one there was like that I'm running from it, where
it's like, you know, like I don't want to associate
with other kids that are in like my specialized education classes,
or I don't want to be seen that way, or
I'm like, you know, to other kids because they don't
necessarily understand it. So them teasing me or like saying, oh,
you got to go to miss Green's class or you
(06:06):
got to you know what I'm saying, And that's the
one class like all day pretty much. So it's like
for me, there was kids that would be in there
all day. For me, I would miss certain classes like
certain what do they call it, like extracurriculars like gym
or certain stuff to go to be in there, and
then I would have like extra time on test or
you know, you know, basically a tutor.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Or when you're at public school.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Yeah, I was grud It was tough. Yeah, But then
the other side of it is like I don't even
want to call it embracing it, but like accepting this
diagnosis or this label when you're a kid and just
being like, oh yeah, I don't get it, you know
what I'm saying. And I think I kind of fell
into that around probably like seventh or eighth grade.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
At any point chance, do you close in though?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Because when you look at it now, you know, looking
through the rear view mirror, it's like, okay, cool, But
when you looking at rearview mirror, that right there could
be something that would just kind of close you up.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Did it close you up? At any point?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
I think it made me want to like show other
ways that I was smart. I think that's why I started.
That's not why I started rapping, but that's why I
wanted to perform my raps and wanted to like do
I used to do open mics and poetry and stuff
to show like Okay, like you know, I might have
difficulties in some spaces, but like I'm I definitely know
how to write, I know how to you know, perform.
(07:18):
I know how to do these things. So I think
it like pushed me in other areas to like show
my skills and as certain.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Thing, Chance continue to hang out with us. Man, we
got we got more to cover. They'll continue to hang
out with us in the neighborhood. We got Chance to
rapper in the neighborhood, Big Boys Neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
This is big Boy on demand.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Big Boys Neighborhood. Star Line is a new project. We're
back in the neighborhood with Chance the Rapper. Why do
you feel and you always kind of gave us an
insight just to life too.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
You know what I'm saying. You've let us in, But.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Why do you feel like with Starline you let us
in and even the conversation you let us in even more.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I think, like what I realized about my superpowers at
being the boat in this rap stuff is like what
you just said, vulnerability, relatability, and also like I have
a skill in painting certain concepts, and so I feel
like with this album because of like everything that was
going on in my life as a parent, as you know,
(08:16):
a co parent, as a you know, as an independent
artist at this time in this rap world, and then
also just where we are like in society, you know
what I'm saying, Like there's all these things that like
impress upon my music and make me right in certain directions.
And I think like what I really wanted to give
people was insight in how I see the world and
(08:37):
how I see myself. And I think the album kind
of like teeters back and forth between those two things,
which are really interconnected, you know what I'm saying, Like
how you see yourself dictates how you see the world,
and how you see the world dictates how you see yourself.
So it kind of weaves in and out of like
these very very personal moments, like I said talking about
the education system and then wrapping it back around by
the end of the album that like explain how that
(08:58):
affected me and my father's relationship, or how that affects
how I see myself in the world or how the
world sees me. And then on the other side, like
taking these really lofty concepts of like you know, there's
a song on there called The Negro Problem. It's based
on Booker T. Washington's book The Negro Problem in it
and it talks about intersectionality, how there's all these problems
that we deal with as black folks, whether it's you know,
(09:20):
in healthcare or violence, the criminal justice system, all these
things that you know, primarily affect us, you know what
I'm saying, that disproportionately affect us, but they're wider, systemic
problems that affect a lot of people. And once you
look at it at this intersection of like, Okay, if
I could fix some of these Negro problems, then I
would be fixing my own problems. Then you, as a society,
(09:42):
we start to look at things a little different.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Do you feel like with the entire project for Starline,
do you feel like.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You wrote this for you? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I wrote this for a bunch of mes, right,
And I think like that's the coolest part about this
project and the response that I and getting us like
people saying, I feel like this album was for me,
and I think it's like, really it's music that could
be enjoyed by everybody. But I think the people that
are having the best, you know, time with it so far,
the people that got some time with it alone, like
(10:12):
this is a really good Put this joint on in
the car and just drive dolo. Though.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Chance definitely want to thank you for hanging out with
us in the neighborhood. Man, appreciate you. Don't forget the
new album. It's called star Line. Make sure you guys
go check that OUTU man, and you could buy it
on chance stuff dot com. Chance stuff dot com for
all the albums and the merching everything. Man, you can
find this entire interview. It's right there. Big Boy TV
our YouTube channel, and as you're watching hit that subscribe button.
(10:37):
Y'all do continue to hang out with us in the neighborhood,
Big Boys Neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
I ain't leaving this neighborhood.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Eighties.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
You're finding a Big Boy from Big Boys Neighborhood on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
We have the most fun.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
On your radio.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Can keep Palmer in the neighborhood. What's your motivation though, I.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
Want to be like stay Lauder and leaving my son
the company. When I realized that Estate Lauda was a
real lady right at one time. You know, she had
kids and now they run her company. I want Liotis
to be able to run Kiky Palmer company.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
I want him to be your son named. His name
is liotas so old.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
That's a black ass. Hey, dude, let me tell you
that's why your son is like that. Literally, he tapped
into the old li Otises.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Of the world. Man, he's probably got to be the
only two year old li Otis.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
No, he has to be.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
I gave him such a were walking with Martin Luther
King name Yotis and Alton Jackson.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Okay, ay, man, if that's not powerful, you know what
I mean? Oh my god, thank you for listening. It
is your probably big Boy, big Boy's neighborhood. You can
catch more of us right here on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Big Boy has left the building.