Chicago musician Chance the Rapper says he has purchased the news website Chicagoist with the aim of “amplifying diverse voices and content”.
The 25-year-old made the announcement in his song “I Might Need Security”.
New York’s public radio station WNYC, which previously owned the Chicagoist, confirmed the purchase on Thursday.
The deal means that Chance’s Social Media LLC company now owns all of the Chicagoist’s assets, including its archives and social media channels.
Chance said in a statement that he was “extremely excited” about the purchase, adding that the site was an “integral local platform for Chicago news, events and entertainment”.
Earlier, the rapper released a song in which he says that he bought the Chicagoist to produce content to run “racist” media organisations out of business.
He said he was looking forward to relaunching the site, which has been dormant since last November, and “bringing the people of Chicago an independent media outlet”.
A statement from WNYC, which took ownership of the Chicagoist assets from billionaire businessman Joe Ricketts in February, said it was “delighted” that the business was “finding a new home in the hands of a proud Chicagoan”.
Last year, Chance announced that he was he was giving $1m (£800,000) to schools in Chicago for “arts and enrichment programming”, while challenging big companies and corporations to follow his lead.
In April, the musician caused a stir when he responded to a tweet by Donald Trump in which the US president mentioned the rapper while promoting the “lowest black and Hispanic unemployment in history”.
“Nah that ain’t it yo,” Chance wrote.
