5 Major Takeaways from Chance the Rapper’s Grammy Wins About How to Transform a Setback into a Success

So if you have been hiding under a rock for the past twenty-four hours or if you just don’t watch the Grammys really or follow music (which is fair because I didn’t until recently), then allow me to explain why this 23 year-old Chicago native just made history as well as an astronomical disruption to the music industry – and how you as aspiring professionals can learn from that and apply it towards your personal and/or professional success.

1. Get Clean.

Chance:

Chancellor J. Bennett yes is now a force to be reckoned with, but he’s had his fair share of struggles in his short life thus far. He got in trouble for smoking weed in high school; He’s done harder drugs – Acid and Xanax; and he has a daughter and is now having to deal with a legal/custody settlement with her mother. And yet he is the first independent artist ever to win a Grammy off of a streaming-only mixtape? You might be thinking that something doesn’t add up. His secret is that he got clean from the things he knew were holding him back from greatness. And he owns up to that repeatedly in his breakthrough, award-winning mixtape The Coloring Book:

Last year got addicted to xans

Started forgetting my name and started missing my Chance

You:

No matter where you are right now, at your very earliest convenience go somewhere you can be alone. ENTIRELY alone. No friends, no family, no music, and definitely no social media (heck, I don’t even care if you stop reading this post and come back to it). Find a quiet place and be still in your own silence. Tomorrow you can go back to putting on the fa?ade to your classmates and coworkers that you have it all together. Be honest with yourself, look yourself in the face literally and/or figuratively and decide what you don’t like about yourself. You don’t have to be doing drugs to admit that perhaps you spend a bit too much time following the Cleveland Browns' losing streak. Then do whatever is in your power to change those things. Repeat everyday. I guarantee you it won’t take even thirty minutes.

2. Use the resources that are right under your nose to give yourself an advantage.

Chance:

 Chance’s music has an indubitably unique, eclectic sound informed by his long-time interests in gospel, soul, and jazz. His entire mixtape is fueled by nostalgia from his days growing up on 79th Street of the West Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. He doesn’t shy away to owning up to his hometown and from the lessons he’s learned in life.

You:

We all make mistakes. Henry Ford said: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again. This time more intelligently.” I don’t know what you found from your 30-minute reflection but don’t beat yourself up over your insecurities, shortcomings, or missed opportunities. Take comfort in the fact that you aren’t alone in those struggles and embrace how they inform your current situation – and if you play your cards right, your near future success.

3. Surround yourself with people you would trade places with. 

Chance:

If you look up a timeline of all of Chance’s releases since his start six years ago he knew how to connect and collaborate with the biggest people in his immediate circle and as his circle gradually grew larger. He went from local collabs, to producers such as Chuck Inglish, Kenny Jame$ and Blended Babies, to huge big-time hits with Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Kirk Franklin, Young Thug, Lil Yatchy, and of course his hero who’s also a Chicago native, Kanye West.

You:

I don’t know about you but I have at least three people in my phone that I would trade places with who make at least three to four figures more than I do (and yes I do have a salary). You’re already on the right track – network.

4. Dare to Stray off the Beaten Path.

Chance:

Were you wondering why I was calling it a mixtape and not an album? Chance the Rapper is not only an independent artist, he is a self-proclaimed anti-label artist and in fact, he releases his music absolutely for free. Here’s why according to him thanks to a Vanity Fair interview that I read about on a Quartz article:

After I made my second mixtape and gave it away online, my plan was to sign with a label and figure out my music from there. But after meeting with the three major labels, I realized my strength was being able to offer my best work to people without any limit on it.

I make money from touring and selling merchandise, and I honestly believe if you put effort into something and you execute properly, you don’t necessarily have to go through the traditional ways.

You:

Don’t be afraid to break the mold! So many people take the beaten path and it’s too comfortable and too easy. Nobody ever achieved anything excellent without being uncomfortable along the way.

5. Don’t forget to send shoutouts to your fans and your supporters.

Chance:

At his acceptance speech, Chance thanked his family, his girlfriend, his fans, all of Chicago, and his God. But he didn’t just do it at the end, he did it along the way (and you can bet he did throughout the mixtape). He even dedicated the song Sunday Candy to his grandmother a.k.a the President of his Fan Club.

You:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with many.”

#StudentVoices