Billboard sat down with Chance The Rapper for an exclusive interview where he announces the next Social Experiment (Sox) project, talks about staying indie and thriving and his plans for the future. The good news is that we can expect a new SoX project by years end, which will come in the form of Donnie Trumpet’s Surf. As far as a Chance solo or SoX group project? Well, we’re gonna have to wait on that.
Seeing as this came out on a random night, is it safe to say you have a lot of songs backlogged and are just waiting for the time to release them?
Yeah. Well that’s the thing — everybody’s got their own things going. [Producer/bandmate] Peter [Cottontale]’s been working on a lot of scoring for films, [producer/bandmate] Nate [Fox] has been doing a lot of work with Hollywood Records and doing production for a lot of different artists, [bandmate] Donnie [Trumpet], we’re working the hardest on his project because it’s the closest to release.
And you’ll be on that?
Yeah. Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment is the first group project to drop and the first thing that I’ll be heavily involved in since Acid Rap. And I have my own stuff that I’ve been working on and I’ve been producing for other artists and writing for other artists and writing with other artists. So all that shit is an influence. There’s so many different genres being covered and being created every time we start on something. I’m just so much more focused on creating an atmosphere with each song. I’m working on each song as a project in itself.
You mentioned you’ve been working with other artists. Care to indulge further?
We’re working really closely with Francis Starlite from Francis and the Lights. He’s been a really been a big help on Surf. Damn, I’m saying these things like people know it. Surf is the first project, which is coming out before the end of 2014. It’s the first Social Experiment project. It’s a big step for all of us all putting our heads together and letting Nico [Segal, a.k.a Donnie Trumpet] hold the reigns and carry it. There’s a lot of great instrumentation. A lot of input from cool writers. I’m already saying too much…
…I feel you. Let’s get back then to your upcoming projects. It seems you’re in no rush to release the next official Chance the Rapper project.
Well, that’s the whole thing. For one, obviously, I’m in a band. The band has been backing me on a lot of the shows, so when you go to a Chance the Rapper show it’s billed as a Chance the Rapper show, and even though you bought a ticket for a Chance the Rapper show, you end up going to a Social Experiment concert, you know? And you get the full experience of the musicality of four seasoned players. It’s something different. It’s something new. It’s a bit of theater. It’s a culmination of going to all these dope concerts and seeing cool Broadway plays. A lot of influence has come from The Lion King musical. You could probably tell if you listen to “Arthur.” We’ve been trying to take in all these cool, different outside cultural experiences and make that into a free listenable project. That’s the new thing.