Chance the Rapper Says the Obamas Are Big Fans of 'Coloring Book'

President Obama is apparently a big Chance the Rapper fan.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In a new GQ profile, Chance the Rapper reveals that the Obamas are big fans of his work. "Malia listens to Coloring Book," he said of the First Daughter, whom Chance has known for years. "And I send them stuff sometimes. I haven't seen Malia since I was a kid. I think they were both in school the day that I went up there recently, but Barack was talking about it. Or, uh, President Obama was talking about it.”

Asked if he was sure Obama was a fan, Chance sounded confident. “He didn't say it publicly. There was a big meeting [in April] about My Brother's Keeper and criminal-justice reform, and a whole bunch of artists and celebrities were there. And at the end, everybody takes a group photo, and he's signing stuff. And he keeps pushing me to the back, and I'm like, ‘I don't understand why he won't sign my shit.’ And he makes me wait till the end, and then he brings me up to his office, and we had a really good conversation about what I was working on. He told me I needed to start selling my music. He's a good man. Even if he wasn't president, if his ass worked at, like, Red Lobster, he'd be just a good man working at Red Lobster.”

Chance also meditated on his continued insistence about not signing to a label, saying he didn't want to get involved in a label "dick-swinging contest. “Just in terms of, like, those guys being able to say that they got me. That's what they want to do," Chance said. "They all just brag about who they recently got. And so I'm definitely not trying to be a part of their dick-swinging contest. I'm staying far away from all dick-swinging.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Chance discussed his rough time living in Los Angeles, noting that he was spaced out on Xanax and partying for most of the time. One interesting fact, though, came when he brought a date back to his house. "We're sitting in the front room, maybe rolling up some weed or something," he said. “And then Frank [Ocean] just comes up and starts playing the piano and lightly singing in the background of our date. Obviously, that scored me a lot of points with this female.”

You can check out the whole profile here to find out more about Chance's thoughts on the media's portrayal of Chicago violence, the making of Coloring Book, and more.

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