“Shame Is Heavy”: Chance The Rapper Hits Back At Negative Album Reviews
"Some people want me to feel ashamed."
By now, you’re probably well aware that Chance the Rapper finally dropped his debut studio album last week.
By that same token, you’re probably also well aware that the album has garnered one of the most divisive and visceral reactions to any release this year in any genre. It scored a big ol’ zero from The Needle Drop, an underwhelming 6.9 from Pitchfork (compared to the glowing 9.1 of 2016’s mixtape Coloring Book) and a slew of memes in which listeners openly mock Chance’s limited lyrical content and uninspired concept.
Up to this point, Chance had only dropped a single tweet acknowledging the discourse surrounding his album.
Recently, however, the Splendour dropout decided to articulate his thoughts in a little more detail, beginning with a tweet in which he states: “I’m getting this crazy feeling that people want me to kill myself.”
From there, he gets into his mental state surrounding the negative reactions to his album. “Some people want me to feel ashamed,” he writes. “Shame is heavy yo. And feeling shame for something that you were once prideful about is super heavy.”
He also thanks the people close to him that have reached out and texted him their support, while also reiterating that he is neither suicidal nor ashamed. “I just wanted to say out loud that I see the vibes,” he concludes.
Read the entire thread below.
I’m getting this crazy feeling that people want me to kill myself 😢
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
That’s not my vibe at all, but i feel the push.
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
And I feel like even more than that, some people want me to feel ashamed.
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
Shame is heavy yo. And feeling shame for something that you were once prideful about is super heavy.
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
What’s really weird is that music is the number one thing that influences how I feel on the daily
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
Like can really push me to one side or the other. And thats super raw to me. Cause I’m sure there’s other people that get their fuel from music
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
So for anybody out there thats texted me the past few days, I appreciate you. And I’m happy being able to spend time with my family and do alot of the things I used to do before I got so wrapped up in making this project
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
And I wanna let some of these feelings go cause thats whats twitter is for. For people to say exactly whats on their hearts
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
And the number one thing thats been on my heart and has been reaffirmed in the last week that I’m now 100% sure of is..
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
That I LOVE my wife
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019
I just want to reiterate that I don’t want to kill myself, nor am I ashamed of loving my wife. I think I just wanted to say out loud that I see the vibes 👀👀
— The Big Day out now (@chancetherapper) August 5, 2019