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Chance the Rapper Became a Television Critic at the Emmys and Put the Industry on Blast — Watch

"I love television, it’s a pleasant distraction. But just imagine taking action," the Grammy winner rapped during a pre-taped cameo in Stephen Colbert's introduction.
Chance The RapperDave Chappelle in concert, Radio City Music Hall, New York, USA - 17 Aug 2017
Chance The Rapper
Mathieu Bitton/REX/Shutterstock

The Emmys were dominated by an incredible batch of winners (Ann Dowd! Donald Glover!) and a very unfortunate cameo from Sean Spicer, but the one moment that’s not getting nearly enough attention is Chance the Rapper‘s surprise appearance in Stephen Colbert’s pre-taped introduction. The three-time Grammy winner was featured in a quick aside where he performed a couple verses that basically turned him into a socially-conscious television critic. Anyone familiar with Chance was hardly surprised.

Chance’s Emmys rap has been written out below (via Entertainment Weekly):

 I love television, it’s a pleasant distraction
But just imagine taking action.
I like ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine,’ in fact, I’m addicted
But where’s the cop show where one gets convicted?
I miss the classics, I still think ‘M.A.S.H.’ rocks
But if Hawkeye can be a soldier, why not Laverne Cox?
‘Bob’s Burgers’ makes me smile, but please don’t ignore
The decline of the independent family-run store.
I get it, them finales, they got you focused,
Just record the show and try to show up at the protest.

The rapper was actually nominated for an Emmy this year in the Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics race for co-writing the song “Last Christmas” from Casey Affleck’s “Saturday Night Live” episode. He lost to Common, who won for an original song off the “13TH” original soundtrack. Click here for all of IndieWire’s Emmys coverage.

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