Who Is Pat Corcoran? Details About Chance The Rapper's Manager's Divisive Tweet About Mental Illness
His tweet has received a lot of negative reactions.
getty Grammy award-winning music artist Chance The Rapper has become one of the industry's most exciting, successful, and well-known young talents in recent years. However, it's not the 25-year-old rapper who's been making headlines this time around but his manager, Pat Corcoran.
Corcoran sent the Twitter world into a whirl this weekend after tweeting out his thoughts about mental illness and how to treat it. His tweets quickly received countless adverse and intense reactions.
Corcoran's tweets have drawn a lot of negative attention, especially after many have been offering support to stars who have been very open with their mental health struggles recently, such as Pete Davidson and Kanye West.
Who is Pat Corcoran? Here are some details about Chance The Rapper's manager and his controversial tweet about mental illness.
1. Corcoran met Chance The Rapper when he was still in college.
Corcoran has known the rapper for a long time. He started managing Chance when he was still attending college. He was working with the Chicago-based band, Kids These Days when he met the rapper. Corcoran explained in a 2015 interview how he met Chance through the band.
"Chance was their buddy, and he started doing these listening parties they all went to, and I went and supported him, they were amazing. He released 10 Day before I was initially involved, but I was a huge fan. A week later, I was at this radio station with another artist and I saw Chance and his dad. Me and his dad spoke, and we all had a good time. I got a call the next day from his dad like, 'Me and Chance want you to work with us.' We met up the next day, and that was April in 2012. It's coming up on three years."
2. Corcoran had never managed anyone before meeting Chance.
He was still a student at DePaul University and had only worked behind-the-scenes for other rising musical talents when Corcoran got the job to become the rapper's manager. Although he had no previous experience as a manager, Chance and his father Ken Bennett revealed that they just knew they wanted Corcoran in the role.
According to Bennett, "We had interviewed other candidates and they all wanted to know how Chance had built up a following. It sounded like they were trying to learn from Chance instead of the other way around."
Corcoran also commented on being offered the role to become the rapper's manager. "Mr. Bennett was saying, 'You're not a pro, but you guys will learn together. I was blown away.'"
3. Corcoran has been on Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Chance's manager made Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2017 for the music category. Corcoran was recognized for his behind-the-scenes work with the rapper on his 2016 award-winning album Coloring Book. The album helped Chance receive seven Grammy nominations and marked the first time that the awards included a stream-only music record.
4. Corcoran's tweets about mental health received backlash.
On December 16, Corcoran took to Twitter where he gave his opinion on mental illness and how to treat it. His tweet soon gained a lot of controversy for his suggestions on what to do instead of taking medicine to treat mental illness.
In another tweet, Corcoran revealed that he had dealt with his own mental health issues before practicing self-care. His tweets were met with many adverse responses from other Twitter users.
5. Corcoran sent a follow-up tweet soon after.
He responded to his original tweet by clarifying that he "wanted to share his feelings and help people." Corcoran also stated in another tweet that "he hopes everyone knows that they deserve help."
Sloane Solomon is a YourTango editor and writer who covers pop culture, lifestyle topics, and love and relationships.