In case you were wondering, Chance the Rapper is not trying to be the next Kanye West.
Yes, the 23-year-old looks at 'Ye like an idol, but, no, he's not trying to follow in the controversial rapper's footsteps.
Chance covers the February issue of GQ magazine and opens up about his musical influences and his view on the rap industry. He also explains why he's taking a bit of a different path than Kanye.
"I don't think I ever wanted to be like Kanye in personality," he told the publication. "I think I definitely want to, have always wanted to, have his boldness or assurance in myself. But I've definitely seen Kanye do things where I was like, 'I'd never do that.'"
He continued, "I've always been able to defend Kanye…Like when he went onstage with Taylor [Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs], I was like…'Well, Beyoncé kind of deserved that.' I'm rationalizing everything that he does, but I can't say that in the same position I would do the same things."
Chance said there's definitely similarities in that he wants to be as much of a voice as Kanye, but he also sees himself as more a people-person.
"I always wanted to be more a person that people enjoy," he explained. "Somebody that will make you laugh. I'm talking about just my personality, not necessarily how my music sounds. Because I believe I'm a disrupter like Kanye in a lot of ways."
Still, Chance can't help but idolize how 'Ye helped shape his decision to become a rapper in many ways.
He explained to GQ that when he was younger and people would ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he'd say a rapper, despite his father brushing it off like he was joking.
"I remember that s--t used to bother the f--k out of me," he recalled of his father's reaction. "Because I thought Kanye West was the smartest man in the world. The best poet in the world. The freshest-dressed in the world. That's what a rapper was to me, and I wanted everybody to feel that way about the word 'rapper.' And 'rapper,' to me, is pretty much synonymous with the world 'black.' It's a stigma."
Thus, as he continues putting more and more music out, he refrains from calling himself a "musician" or an "artist."
Chance the Rapper is, well, a rapper.
Read his full interview with GQ online here.