Chance the Rapper
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He was born and grew up in Chicago. He released his debut mixtape 10 Day in 2012. He gained mainstream recognition in 2013 following the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap.[4] His third mixtape, Coloring Book (2016), was released to further critical acclaim and commercial success as it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. The mixtape earned a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, while a song off the album, "No Problem" (featuring 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne), won Best Rap Performance; it became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award. Bennett himself was also awarded Best New Artist the same night.[5] His debut studio album, The Big Day, was released in 2019 to continued commercial success and moderate critical reception.[6][7]
Chance the Rapper
Chance[2]
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
- record producer
- activist
- actor
2011–present
2
Taylor Bennett (brother)
Vocals
- Savemoney
- The Social Experiment
In addition to his solo career, Bennett is a member of the Chicago-based collective Savemoney, and is the vocalist for the band the Social Experiment, led by trumpeter Nico Segal. The band released their album Surf in 2015.[8] Bennett has since been prolific in social activism and philanthropic endeavors in his hometown.[9]
Early life
Bennett was born in Chicago.[10] His father, Ken Williams-Bennett, was an aide to the late Chicago mayor Harold Washington and then-Senator Barack Obama.[11] His mother, Lisa Bennett,[12] worked for the Illinois Attorney General.[13] Chance grew up in the middle-class neighborhood of West Chatham on Chicago's South Side.[14] When he was sixteen, Chance's father began to work in the Department of Labor during President Barack Obama's first term.[15][16] Chance personally met President Obama in his youth and talked about his aspirations to be a rapper, to which Obama responded with "word".[17] Chance was originally going to move to Washington, D.C., following Obama's win in the 2008 presidential election, although those plans eventually fell through.[18] Chance attended Jones College Prep High School where he was a member of the Jewish Student Union.[19]
Chance Bennett's interest in music began with Michael Jackson, who he exclusively listened to on cassettes until the fifth grade.[20] Growing up, Bennett's parents were constantly playing music, including Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke and other artists in the jazz and gospel genres.[21] Bennett began listening to hip-hop after hearing "Through the Wire" by Kanye West on the radio while walking through Hyde Park, Chicago. After finding out the song was on West's debut album The College Dropout, Bennett purchased the album, making it the first hip-hop album that Bennett listened to.[22] Bennett considers West a huge influence on him and has said that he was inspired to begin rapping by West.[23][24][22] Bennett and West met each other in August 2014 at Bonnaroo Music Festival.[25]
Bennett began rapping in the sixth grade when his cousin let him start using his studio.[26] In his freshman year at Jones College Prep High School, Bennett formed the hip-hop duo Instrumentality alongside a friend.[27] Many of Chance's earliest performances took place at the YOUmedia Lyricist Loft at Harold Washington Library in Chicago.[28] After placing second in a local songwriting contest, Bennett met then-Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley who enjoyed his music.[18] Bennett spent most of his junior year and a small amount of his senior year writing a draft for his debut project, 10 Day,[29] which was later released after Bennett was suspended for ten days after being caught smoking cannabis.[30]
Artistry
Musical style
Bennett has said in interviews with XXL and Complex that Kanye West, James Brown, MC Hammer, Prince, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Esham, Eminem, Souls of Mischief, and Freestyle Fellowship have influenced him.[119] When asked about gospel influences in his music, he mentioned that Kirk Franklin is one of his favorite artists and his favorite composer.[65]
Bennett's music has been described as versatile[120] and uplifting.[121] His music generally contains jazz-inspired melodies and gospel influences.[122] His lyrics usually have references to Christian theology,[123] his struggles with his faith,[124] and his upbringing.[125] He incorporates choirs into his music to attempt to maximize the gospel undertones.[126] Sharde' Chapman at HuffPost has described Bennett's lyrics as "creative" and "colorful".[127]
He often performs traditional singing songs[128] and has a light-lyric tenor voice with an expansive vocal range which spans three octaves. Bennett's vocal range reaches its extreme low at the bass F♯ (F♯2), and rises to its peak high at the tenor high F (F5).[129]
Fashion
Bennett's fashion style is a large part of his public image and he has taken interest in the industry. He has designed hats for the Chicago White Sox.[130] The Hollywood Reporter said that Bennett is "redefining fashion" with his style of generally wearing overalls and contesting traditional hip-hop fashion norms.[131] He wore a suit which was meant to imitate Michael Jackson at the 2017 BET Awards.[132] Bennett was seen wearing Thom Browne clothing at the 2017 Grammys.[133] Bennett has been known to wear a signature hat with the number three on it. Regarding the meaning of the number three in his fashion, he said, "I've rationalized it to myself that it stands for the third mixtape, the Holy Trinity, and the three-pronged family of myself, my daughter, and my girl."[134]
Activism and politics
Bennett's father, Ken Bennett, has been involved in Democratic Party politics on the local and national level. Ken worked for Barack Obama as a presidential appointee[18] and as an aide.[14] Ken worked on Obama's presidential campaign in 2008,[18] was an aide to Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, and was the Chicago mayoral campaign co-chair for Toni Preckwinkle in 2019.[135][136]
Despite his family's ties to the Democratic Party, Chance Bennett has called himself an independent voter, although he has a history of supporting Democrats.[137][138] Bennett volunteered with Barack Obama's reelection campaign by phonebanking in Hyde Park, Chicago[139] and has given speeches at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.[140]
In November 2014, Emanuel named Bennett as Chicago's Outstanding Youth of the Year for his activism.[141][142] Bennett's work to support Chicago youth includes hosting Open Mike nights for Chicago-area high school students in collaboration with Chicago Public Library, which drew the attendance of fellow Chicago natives and celebrities like Hannibal Buress and Kanye West.[143] In December 2015, Bennett joined with Detroit-based nonprofit group Empowerment Plan to start an initiative called Warmest Winter 2016. The initiative raised money to give 1,000 specially manufactured coats, which doubled as sleeping bags and shoulder bags, and were manufactured by homeless citizens of Detroit, to homeless citizens of Chicago.[144] In June 2016, he hosted the Teens in the Park event, a free youth festival on Chicago's Northerly Island that drew an attendance of 3,300.[145]
Bennett co-created a new nonprofit called SocialWorks in September 2016, an extension of his Open Mike program which aimed to create youth programs for residents of Chicago, among other goals. Open Mike nights and the Warmest Winter initiative later became part of SocialWorks.[146][147]
Bennett has actively fought to combat gun violence in his hometown of Chicago and in 2014, along with his father, promoted the "#SaveChicago" campaign. The campaign sought to stop gun violence over Memorial Day Weekend. During 2014's Memorial Day weekend, Chicago went 42 straight hours without a shooting.[148] Bennett met with President Obama at the White House on April 16, 2016, to discuss My Brother's Keeper Challenge, an initiative of the United States Federal Government to promote intervention by civic leaders in the lives of young men of color to address their unique challenges and to promote racial justice, with other musicians, including Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, J. Cole, and others.[78] Bennett started a Twitter campaign for May 23, 2016, using #May23 to stop gun violence for 42 hours.[149]
On March 6, 2017, after a meeting with Governor Bruce Rauner that did not go well only days before,[150] Bennett announced his intention to donate $1,000,000 to Chicago Public Schools[151] in order to help offset the lack of government funding provided. Following this, a movement arose to try and inspire Bennett to run for mayor of Chicago.[152][153][27] This was backed by fellow media personalities including musician Drake.[154]
Bennett is an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, having criticized him numerous times and drawn comparisons to former President Barack Obama.[155] During the 2016 Presidential election, Bennett said he was not scared of a Trump presidency.[156] When asked why by GQ, Bennett said "Like, 'Make America Great Again', that's not a real thing because shit ain't really switched up for [white middle class]".[157] Bennett endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on October 6, 2016, expressing concerns about the way she was treated in the media and also expressing that she could "fix Chicago"[158] and led a "march" to numerous polling stations with thousands of Chicagoans.[159] Following the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Bennett said "Trump was going to win, anybody in the world who's surprised by the election of Donald Trump has been ignorant of racism, and the tides and patterns of American history and world history."[160] In February 2017, Bennett posted publicly on Twitter that he was worried President Trump was going to change constitutional term limits.[161] Bennett has compared Trump's fascination with Chicago to "going to war".[162] In August 2017, Bennett claimed to have a "bigger voice than Donald Trump".[163] Bennett also became an outspoken critic of Chicago Mayor Emanuel later in his term, though his father had worked for Emanuel and he himself had earlier accepted Emanuel's support.[9]
Bennett has been an active Twitter user, with several of his tweets on social issues going viral. For example, Bennett garnered attention from Time magazine when he tweeted criticism of an article titled "In Wake of Weinstein, Men Wonder If Hugging Women Still OK".[164] Following Kanye West's Tweets announcing his support of Donald Trump in April 2018, Bennett tweeted in support of West's freedom to choose to be Republican, sparking controversy among his fanbase.[165][166] Trump later tweeted thanking Bennett for his support of West, though Bennett disavowed Trump's praise.[167]
In July 2018, Bennett purchased the Chicago journalism website Chicagoist from WNYC.[168] The website had been inactive since it was abruptly shut down by former owner Joe Ricketts in November 2017, and Bennett planned to relaunch the website later in 2018.[168] Chicagoist did not relaunch in 2018, and it is currently planning a 2019 reopening, according to its website.[169]
In the 2019 Chicago mayoral election, Bennett was an active supporter of Amara Enyia. Bennett initially endorsed Enyia at a press conference in October 2018.[170] Bennett campaigned with Enyia and made major donations to her mayoral bid. Fellow rapper and Chicago native Kanye West also donated to Enyia's campaign.[171][172] In the February 2019 election, Enyia finished fifth out of fourteen candidates, and did not advance to the mayoral runoff.[173] Lori Lightfoot and Preckwinkle, who had hired Bennett's father as campaign co-chair, instead advanced to the runoff. In the runoff, Chance Bennett endorsed Preckwinkle, criticizing Lightfoot as having worked against the interests of Chicago's black community.[136]
In 2020, Bennett will be honored by UNICEF at their annual gala in Chicago with the UNICEF Chicago Humanitarian Award.[174]
In 2020, Bennett endorsed Kanye West for president in West's 2020 presidential campaign. Bennett took to Twitter to praise West, stating he trusted in him more than he trusted Joe Biden. His Tweets were criticized heavily, but Bennett reiterated that he did not take them back.
