Chance The Rapper Reveals Justin Bieber Recorded 'Ultralight Beam'
Before “Ultralight Beam” was released as part of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, Justin Bieber was on the track.
Lil Chano, one of the stars who appears on the final cut, revealed the surprising news during an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra, likely filmed before he canceled the rest of his European tour.
“We had Justin Bieber come and record over it,” he said. “A lot of people. I’ve seen a lot of people come through the studio to record over ‘Ultralight Beam.'”
See more highlights from the Q&A, including info on Chance’s next project, below.
ON HIS NEXT PROJECT: “I want to make an album. My mixtapes have been confused for albums for a long time so it has to be different. Something that you could consider an album. It might not be physical. It might not be a disc but an album that comes with its own live show. That’s important.”
ON INSPIRATION TO RAP: “Kanye. I cannot attribute it to any other single person than Kanye. I remember the first Kanye track I ever heard was ‘Through the Wire’ on the radio. I had just gotten a Walkman that was a CD player but had the radio on it also. WGCI in Chicago played ‘Through the Wire’ on the radio. I was at a pizza restaurant with my parents…I remember hearing it like, ‘This is crazy.'”
ON ‘ULTRALIGHT BEAM’: “We had Justin Bieber come and record over it. A lot of people. I’ve seen a lot of people come through the studio to record over ‘Ultralight Beam.’
ON DONALD TRUMP: “I’m indifferent, man, in all honesty…I knew Donald Trump was gonna win. Anybody in the world who’s surprised by the election of Donald Trump has been ignorant of racism and the tides and patterns of American history and world history. I think what we had with Barack Obama was an anomaly. It was young and fresh and new and exciting and real. I think us as Americans and the world got spoiled off it for 8 years. We had an amazing run but America so much bigger than where our media outlets are. There are a lot of people who just…I don’t even know. I’m not one of the people in protest of his presidency. I’m definitely in protest of his plans that I’ve heard so far. This is the first time I really got asked that question. I was a big advocate towards the end for Hillary Clinton. I met her and looked her in the eyes and felt she was a good person. She is a good person. I don’t know, man. It’s weird. I’m from America, which has always been the free-est place in the world and he’s already pissed me off with the shit he did about Hamilton. I don’t know, man. It’s scary. I don’t like talking about him. I don’t like thinking about him. That’s not to say that he’s responsible for racism in America or that he’s the face of it but he’s become a catalyst for a lot of people with pent up racism or sexism or xenophobia or conservative ideas about the government’s ownership of you and their placement in your life. He’s kind of like their mascot. It sucks but I am as a free thinking, young, joyous, optimistic black man, which is a large minority, I’m scared of Donald Trump. I don’t hate him. I’m not mad at him. I’m just scared.”
ON HIS CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT: “If I could choose one person to be president, the person that I think who’s fit, who has a good mind, David Banner. Enlightened man. Look him up. He’s got that info. That knowledge.”
