Nobody is perfect—not even Chicago’s golden child, Chance The Rapper.
On Thursday (June 22), the GRAMMY-award winning Coloring Book author issued a formal apology on Twitter to Dr. Dre and his record label, Aftermath, for making fun of the label during his recently-wrapped Be Encouraged Tour.
While Chance was trying to humorously call out the same major label system that he has side-stepped thus far in his career, he admits he “publicly disrespected [the label’s] hard work and contributions to music.”
I want to formally apologize to Dr Dre, and all of Aftermath for publicly disrespecting their hard work and contributions to music.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
When I went on the Be Encouraged tour I made LED content to satirize and degrade major labels.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
I made the mistake of including Imprints which not only dulled my overall point of trying to uplift artist…
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
But also singled out artist-owned ventures that have only worked to progress the culture
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
Dre is a premier example of creating space for wealth and ownership in an industry designed for creatives to be the foot soldiers
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
His work with Beats, Compton Schools and artist like Kendrick, Game, Eminem, .Paak, 50 NWA and others is unmatched and how i inspire to be
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
I set out to empower and I completely missed the ball and I know that now,
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
once again Sorry to Dre, all the artists/producers at Aftermath and all the other folk trying to make a difference in music that I belittled
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 22, 2017
Aftermath wasn’t the only record label in Chance’s crosshairs during the tour—he also took jabs at Def Jam, Atlantic, Epic, Motownand Universal—but no other label was on the receiving end of an apology Thursday.
Dr. Dre could scare just about anyone into a multi-tweet apology, but Chance seeing the error of his ways has more to do with growing up as a man and an artist than it does being afraid of a respected legend. Chance has accomplished a lot over the past four years—starting a foundation, donating millions to charity and uplifting the youth in his hometown of Chicago—which makes it easy to forget that he’s only 24 years old.
We all make mistakes, it’s what we learn from them that really counts.