Chance The Rapper Encourages Social Action in 2017 Emmy Awards Performance
It's said that people watch TV shows and the awards ceremonies celebrating them to escape reality, but Chance The Rapper made that pretty much impossible when he threw a social justice-tinged guest verse into Stephen Colbert's cold opening at the 2017 Emmy Awards.
Spitting over a simple instrumental, Chano forced both the TV industry and the fans that fuel it to direct their focus to things like police brutality and a lack of diversity instead of their favorite TV series and ratings.
"I love television, it's a pleasant distraction/But just imagine taking action/I like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in fact I'm addicted/But where's the cop show where one gets convicted?" Chano spit, calling to mind the numerous instances of police killing unarmed individuals without serving any prison time.
When he wasn't spitting about police brutality, Chano was encouraging TV producers to include a wider array of people (like members of the LGBTQ community) into their programming. He also urged people to support locally Black-owned businesses, and concluded his freestyle with a call to social action. "I get it, them finales, they got you focused/But just record the show and show up at the protest," he spits in the last bar.
Chano, who recently hit the studio with Young Thug, was nominated for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics after performing his song “Last Christmas” on Saturday Night Live! last year. He didn't win, but his good friend Childish Gambino took home trophies for Outstanding Lead Actor and Directing in a Comedy series. Dope.
Watch Chano's social justice freestyle for the Emmys in the video below.
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