By Lia Kovac

When it comes to the music industry, legal issues arise quite frequently. Whether it’s a bad record deal, copyright infringement or a shady manager, artists often turn to litigation to redress wrongs done to them, but not too often do we hear about a manager suing their former client. 

In the beginning of December, news broke that twenty-seven-year-old rapper sensation Chance the Rapper was being sued by his former manager Pat Corcoran for a breach of contract. Corcoran alleged that the rapper owed him millions of dollars in management commissions and unreimbursed expenses.

Chancelor Bennett better known as Chance the Rapper, gained mainstream recognition in 2013 after releasing his second mixtape “Acid Rap”. He began working with manager Corcoran in 2012. The following year the two entered into an agreement that lasted for almost eight years.

To the public’s understanding, a lot of claims were agreed upon verbally rather than in writing. In the agreement, Corcoran would receive 15 percent of the rapper’s net profit from merchandise, tours, concerts, mixtapes, album streams, album sales, branding deals, endorsements and film and TV ventures.

In April of 2020, Chance terminated his agreement and all entities controlled by Corcoran. After firing Corcoran, Chance hired his father and his brother, Ken and Taylor Bennett, to replace him.

After being terminated, Corcoran filed a lawsuit in which he demanded over three million dollars in commissions stemming from Chance’s participation in a Netflix series, unpaid tour earnings and streaming sales from his music. 

In the lawsuit, Corcoran alleged that the rapper ignored all of his advice regarding the release of his debut album “The Big Day” in 2019 along with canceling his tour. He claimed that instead of the rapper admitting his faults, Chance blamed the lack of album success on Corcoran and fired him out of embarrassment. 

Corcoran discredits the rapper’s work ethic by saying: “Procrastination and lackadaisical effort, perpetuated by various hangers-on uninterested in the hard work of writing and recording, resulted in a freestyle-driven product of subpar quality”.

Chance the Rapper’s legal team has stated that the ex-manager has been paid all of his commissions and is no longer entitled to anything, but Corcoran believes otherwise. 

Due to the majority of the agreement being verbal, the lawsuit has become he said/he said situation and the truth are only Corcoran and Chance know what was actually agreed upon. 

It is difficult to choose a side because there are two sides to every story, but one thing I can acknowledge is the positive impact that Corcoran has had on the rapper’s career over the last eight years. 

Corcoran helped Chance turn himself from a mixtape rapper to a global brand. He also played a huge role in guiding Chance towards choosing the independent artist route instead of signing with a major record label, which has led many to believe that Chance is the Ultimate Independent Artist in the industry. 

So, with all that being said, I leave you with two thoughts: 

1. If Corcoran was not a good manager, why did Chance keep him around for so long? 

2. Could it be that Chance outgrew his manager and rather than helping his career prosper, he was causing it to decline? 

The way you choose to answer those questions should determine which side you land on, but if you’re a fan of Chance the Rapper, you can only hope that the resolution at the end of all this is a better album.

Lia is a culture writer for La Tonique.