In addition to being one of the brightest stars in rap currently, Chance The Rapper has successfully spearheaded a campaign for the Grammys to acknowledge music released for free as eligible for the awards — as long as they are also available on pay-option services such as Spotify. The Chicago-native has personally benefitted from this change in the rules, with his latest release, the Coloring Book mixtape, in contention for Best Rap Album in 2017, becoming the first streaming-only record to receive a Grammy nomination .
This personal success hasn’t stopped Chance from continuing his efforts to reform the Grammy eligibility rules, however. In a tweet, he claims that SoundCloud releases will be eligible for awards beginning in 2018.
Chance’s tweet is far from an official announcement from The Recording Academy but, given his stature in the movement and previous success, his word carries significant weight. More importantly, it opens the door up for more truly independent artists to have their work represented at the recording industry’s premier awards banquet.