There's an old interview with Kanye West from 2002 in which he excitedly tells MTV how he got to where he was at as a producer. At that time, he was coming off the phenomenal success of his work on Jay Z's iconic album, The Blueprint. He name drops a whole list of artists who inspired him, eventually landing on Jay Z, who helped shape his career. A year after this interview, West released his first solo album on Jay Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. You know the rest.

Chance the Rapper had a similar conversation with Complex this week. In it, he explains his own influences, where his own success came from, and why West in particular feels the need to boast about his own talent: "If I was the greatest artist of this generation, and the few past generations, and a few generations going forward, I'd probably say it all the time, especially if I was black and people didn't really like me. I'd be like, 'Let me remind you all the fucking time.'"

This is an interesting thing to hear from the most talented, promising, and humble rapper of his generation.

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Both Chicago raised, both young men who took success on their own, both producers, both rappers, both artists who can sell themselves, and both strictly independent artists who want things done on their own terms—this is the story, this is the genius, of Chance the Rapper and Kanye West.

Back in February, Kanye West hectically released his new album The Life of Pablo. Among the title changes and rewrites was the pure gospel bliss of "Ultralight Beam," a song on which Chance boasts a writing credit. The highlight of the album, "Ultralight Beam" also includes TLOP's best guest verse from Chance. The young rapper's contributions didn't end there; he also shares a writing credit on four other stand-out TLOP tracks: "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1", "Famous," "Feedback," and "Waves." It's a defining moment in Chance's quick ascension to mainstream artist, one that's been helped by a mentorship that mirrors Kanye's own relationship to Jay Z.

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On "Ultralight Beam," Chance raps, "I made Sunday Candy, I'm never going to hell/I met Kanye West, I'm never going to fail/He said let's do a good ass job with Chance three/I hear you gotta sell it to snatch the Grammy." This is advice that only Kanye West would give: Have confidence, kid. Sell yourself. Make sure they know you're the best and they don't forget it.

And Chance is following this advice. Today marks the release of his third album, Coloring Book (he notably changed the name from Chance 3 at the last minute). It's the third album he's released for free without the help of a record label.

Don't you think if Kanye could go back and do it all again, he would have wanted to do it like Chance the Rapper? Wouldn't it, if anything, strengthen Kanye West's claim as the greatest artist alive by achieving it without the money, influence, or reach of a major label? In a way, Chance is making Kanye's same claim of being the greatest rapper alive, but he's doing it without anyone's help.

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Thanks kanye. U put me on rappin. — Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) July 17, 2011

Beyond the regional ties, beyond the aspirational similarities, and personal connections, Chance and West are connected sonically and thematically. If you listen back through West's entire early catalog (and still to this day, honestly), his raps are, for the most part, positive. I've always defended West as a person (though it's insanely hard to do sometimes) for having mostly positive messages: He loves his mom, he loves his home city, he loves his wife, he loves himself. Nothing wrong with that. Chance is the same way: He loves his kid, he loves watching Arthur, he loves his city.

Listen to the first two tracks Chance had already shared from Coloring Book: "Blessings" and "No Problem" both showcase the pillars of West's sound. "Blessings" displays the gospel genius that West showed on "Ultralight Beam" and as early as "Jesus Walks" from his first album. "No Problem" has all of the spinning soul from West's "Through the Wire" to "No More Parties in LA."

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Then there's the vocals. At one point West became a rapper who wanted to sing—his non-rapping album 808s and Heartbreak has come to define an entire generation of hip-hop vocalists. Chance has always been at once a rapper and vocalist. Like Kanye, his voice is flawed, but he doesn't hide it with Auto-Tune. And like Kanye, he wants that voice heard—flaws and all. It should be noted that as a rapper, Chance has more in common with Andre 3000 than West (rapping was never West's strongest talent). Neither are afraid of writing ballads or lullabies.

None of this is to say that Chance is ripping West off. The similarities are there, and they're important to note as a continuation of hip-hop history, but they're not all that defines Chance.

So, let's talk about how they're different. Most notably, as previously mentioned, it's how they make their claims as the greatest rappers alive. Chance is humble. He doesn't need to say it. His music and his actions of circumventing the entire music industry proves it. No one has ever navigated the industry like him before. Chance, unlike West, might be the least polarizing figure in hip-hop. Musically, Chance has early on, in a way that very few other rappers have, embraced live instrumentation and defined himself as a bandleader. He's eternally loyal to his group, led by Donnie Trumpet. Because Chance's sound has been shaped by live musicians, he writes like a live musician. His songs trade between vocals and instruments, his songs have space, they breathe, they're less rigid than any other hip-hop artist creating music today.

In the first song on Coloring Book, Chance is joined by Kanye and the Chicago Children's Choir. He opens the album with, "And we back." It's a we, not an I. Chance, though an intensely independent artist, didn't do this alone. He had his band. He had his mentors. He got his inspiration somewhere. Then he says: "It that intro with Kanye."

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Matt Miller Culture Editor Matt is the Culture Editor at Esquire where he covers music, movies, books, and TV—with an emphasis on all things Star Wars, Marvel, and Game of Thrones.

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