Chance The Rapper says early-career Xanax habit would have killed him
“The way that I was living at that time. I had everything in excess,” he says looking back at his Acid Rap era.
With more than ten years in the game under his belt, Chance the Rapper has reached a point in life where he can reflect on the past, as well as ackowledging the ways they could have been different. Last month marked the ten year anniversary of Acid Rap, the star-making mixtape released in 2013.
Chance spoke to Complex around the anniversary and talk turned to the subject of drugs. Acid Rap is a mixtape that pushes its hallucinogenic influences to the surface and Chance has never shied away from talking about his use of LSD and mushrooms around the time of recording.
During the interview, Chance was asked how his life would look if he had continued to live the same lifestyle he was living in the immediate aftermath of his early success.
"I probably would’ve died, to be honest," he said. "The way that I was living at that time. I had everything in excess,” he added. "Right after I dropped the project, I went on a few tours where I really didn’t make any money. Then I went on my headlining tour, where I made some money." It was then that he was “doing a lot of drugs. A lot, a lot, a lot of drugs.”
“Too many Xans. And just becoming a different person, a lesser, lesser person than I am now. I think if I hadn’t had my spirit tugged on, literally, and a calling to become a better version of myself, then I would’ve died,” he said. “And then I would just be the representative of acid, and I’m so much more.”
Last week Chance announced details of an Acid Rap anniversary show in Chicago, celebrating a decade of his breakout mixtape. It is the first in a series of events this year marking ten years of the release.