On Sunday October 8, Chance the Rapper live-streamed a police stop on Instagram to his 6.7 million followers. During the stream, he said he was streaming it just in case the traffic stop went "sideways."
The video shows Chance and his daughter's mother, Kirsten Corley, in a car with a police car right behind them. The rapper is quiet for the first few seconds of the video as he stares into the phone.
Corley can be heard saying, “We have no records.”
“We have no record, no burners, my baby … she’s knocked out,” Chance reiterated.
Corley asked if Chance was live-streaming the ordeal:
"Hell, yeah, I'm not gonna be playing around with these [inaudible]," Chance said.
Chance later explained that he and his family were on the way home from church when they were pulled over. He wanted to stream the episode "in case it [got] out of hand."
As more viewers began to tune in, Chance noticed that WorldStarHipHop was watching.
“Shoutout to WorldStar, who’s just tuning in, cause y’all can definitely help me if it goes sideways.”
"It should be good, though," Chance continued. "I have great faith in humanity, in the men and women that put on the badge.
"But, you know, can't be too careful. I'm in Chicago. You know how they like to do motherf*ckers out here. Policing is a system. It's disproportionately racist and oppressive."
According to data collected by violence watchdog Hey Jackass!, Chicago Police Officers have shot and killed 10 people so far this year. Another 10 have been shot and wounded.
The officer let Corley off with a warning, and both she and Chance thanked him.
"See? I knew he was a good dude," Chance stated. "I don't have any problem with the men and women that are brave enough to put on the badge." But, he added, "As a system, policing is racist and oppressive."
The Grammy Award-winning rapper and Chicago native, comes from a long line of political figures. His father, Ken Bennett, has worked as the deputy chief of staff and director of the Mayor's Office of Public Engagement since 2014.
Chance himself has been vocal about several sociopolitical issues, especially police brutality after the shooting death and subsequent high-level cover-up of Laquan McDonald by the hands of a Chicago police officer.
More recently, Chance asked fans to read posts hashtagged #NoCopAcademy.
The hashtag is used by activists calling on Chicago's leaders to stop their plans for a $95 million police and fire training academy. The activists instead want the money used to help fund Chicago's cash-strapped public schools.
Back in September, Chance raised $2.2 million through his nonprofit organization that will be distributed to 20 Chicago area schools for arts education programs, according to the Chicago Tribune.
