Niall Horan Calls Fellow ‘The Voice’ Coach Chance The Rapper a ‘Musical Genius’

Niall Horan stopped by The Spout Podcast on Wednesday (March 29) to talk about his experience on The Voice and praise fellow new coach Chance The Rapper.

“You get a lot of serious-level singers on the show and it’s about making them realize that they’re on a TV show and you should, like, enjoy it for what it is,” the One Direction alum said of his freshman go-round mentoring contestants on the NBC singing competition. “Because I think that was what I took away from when I was on The X Factor. Like, you know, I’m getting to do something that not many people get to do. I still try and carry that now.”

More than a decade after he became part of One Direction on the British reality series, Horan is on the verge of releasing his third solo album The Show, but admitted in the interview that he’s hesitant to get feedback on it from his fellow coaches on The Voice, which also include Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton.

“I should play them the record,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know if they’d like it or whatever, but I always get scared with Chance because he’s such a musical genius. Like, I listen to his stuff and I’m blown away, you know? His stuff is so cool to me.”

Though Chance hasn’t released a full-length since his 2019 debut The Big Day, he dropped a string of singles throughout 2022, including “Child of God,” “Wraith” featuring Vic Mensa and Smoko Ono, “A Bar About a Bar,” and “The Highs & the Lows” featuring Joey Badass.

Meanwhile, Horan — who recently visited the White House for St. Patrick’s Day — will drop The Show on June 9 via Capitol Records. Listen to his full interview on The Spout Podcast below.