Chance the Rapper was amongst the swath of artists who declined to be interviewed for Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly, but now he's spoken out about a clip that appears in the docu-series and apologized for his previous work with R. Kelly.
The series features a snippet of Chance saying, "I didn't value the accusers' stories because they were black woman," from a May 2018 interview with Jamilah Lemieux.
On Saturday (January 5), Chance shared a clip contextualizing those words in a bigger discussion. In the extended clip, the rapper explains how he (and society at large) was "programmed to really be hypersensitive to black male oppression" and to discredit the voices of black women — which caused him to automatically view Kelly as a victim when allegations came against him.
Chance does, however, also acknowledge that black women are "exponentially a higher oppressed and violated group of people," and explicitly states, "Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake."
Nevertheless, Chance has shared a new note, in which he reiterates, "any of us who ever ignored the R. Kelly stories, or ever believed he was being set up/attacked by the system (as black men often are) were doing so at the detriment of black women and girls."
He went on to add, "I apologize to all of his survivors for working with him and for taking this long to speak out."
Chance recorded "Somewhere in Paradise" with Kelly in 2015.
See the recent string of tweets, including the interview clip in question, below.
The series features a snippet of Chance saying, "I didn't value the accusers' stories because they were black woman," from a May 2018 interview with Jamilah Lemieux.
On Saturday (January 5), Chance shared a clip contextualizing those words in a bigger discussion. In the extended clip, the rapper explains how he (and society at large) was "programmed to really be hypersensitive to black male oppression" and to discredit the voices of black women — which caused him to automatically view Kelly as a victim when allegations came against him.
Chance does, however, also acknowledge that black women are "exponentially a higher oppressed and violated group of people," and explicitly states, "Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake."
Nevertheless, Chance has shared a new note, in which he reiterates, "any of us who ever ignored the R. Kelly stories, or ever believed he was being set up/attacked by the system (as black men often are) were doing so at the detriment of black women and girls."
He went on to add, "I apologize to all of his survivors for working with him and for taking this long to speak out."
Chance recorded "Somewhere in Paradise" with Kelly in 2015.
See the recent string of tweets, including the interview clip in question, below.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) January 6, 2019
FYI, I conducted the interview with Chance in May. He spoke clearly and unequivocally in support of BW and the victims. https://t.co/uhTZT9TvEA
— Jamilah Lemieux🖤 (@JamilahLemieux) January 6, 2019
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) January 6, 2019
Anyone mentioning that I have black women in my family is deliberately missing the point. Regardless of the proximity of beneficial BW in your life, or being black yourself, we are all capable of subconsciously discrediting BW and their stories because its indoctrinated.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) January 6, 2019
