Chance The Rapper Criticizes '90s-Era Fake Gangsters; Says Kanye Changed Things

Chance The Rapper said the '90s created too many fake gangsters, but now things have changed, and it's okay to be yourself.

"There's always been a quiet conversation and joke that if you're not hard, if you're not from impoverished neighborhoods, if you're not certain constructs of a black stereotype, then you not black," he explained in an interview with NPR. "Niggas kinda ran with that in the '90s, I think and that's why there were so many fabricated hood niggas. But now, a lot of black people have a lot more pride in being who they are and understanding that part of the black experience is living and being who you are. I think it's more accepted on the main stage."

Chance credited Kanye West for changing things in Hip Hop and said he was the one who made it okay to be yourself in the booth and everywhere else.

"The fact that [being yourself] is able to be a main stage or mainstream image and accepted and celebrated is because of folks like Kanye," said the Coloring Book rapper. "[He] came in the game and was like 'This is who I am and these are the types of things that I love and I'm excited about them, and I don't necessarily have to carry myself as anybody that I'm not.' And people picked up on it."

Do you agree with Chance? Did the '90s create a bunch of fake gangster rappers, and do you agree that Kanye West changed things? You can listen to his full interview below.

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