Exactly. People want to get hyped up about the $10 Million, but you have to pay that back with interest. I wouldn't want to go for that, I'd rather keep most of the money I make and either build a team that's able to do what I need for the most part.
As for the "Chance is signed to a record label!" talks I'm hearing from these posters, which label is he signed to? And does anyone have tangible evidence to prove it? Apple isn't a record label, it's a music company... Big difference. The burden of proof is on the people who are saying he's signed. And guaranteed, most people here if I asked them if they knew what TuneCore is, they'd draw a blank. I'm not saying he didn't have connections, but connections don't automatically equal out to him being independent. Does he own his masters? If so, then he IS independent, whether people here like it or not. And the only person who can confirm that is Chance himself.
The fact that a good percentage of posters here that are saying they've never heard a Chance song until recently explains it all, because I remember first hearing about Chance back when Acid Rap was everywhere, and he had a ton of hype back then off that tape. And then he had dropped Surf, another project he did that people wanted to hear. And before Coloring Book dropped, people wanted him to drop Chance 3 for a good while. When you don't pay attention to things, it all seems like it happened at once, but this was at least a good four years in the making. And that's me not counting 10 Day.
People underestimate the power of a fan base. It's the same reason why Logic can do 73k first week on his debut but have his shows sold out, have a popular voice actor on his second album on multiple skits, and having his own Resident Evil VII Promo Ad collaboration done officially with PlayStation. How Hopsin can go from recording in his bedroom to performing at massive festivals all over the world. And how Tech N9ne can be underground but also able to make it on the Forbes list (probably being the richest Independent rapper to date). It's the fans that get you there. A connection means a lot and Chance definitely had more opportunities at his disposal than most others would, but that's still an accomplishment, considering his music has to actually be GOOD to get himself in these spots in the first place.