Chance The Rapper
Chance The Rapper
Real Name:Chancelor Johnathan Bennett
Profile:Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993 in Chicago, Illinois), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper and singer. Chance is also a member of the collective SAVEMONEY with Vic Mensa and The Social Experiment.
Sites:chanceraps.com, Facebook, genius.com, instagram.com, Last.fm, SoundCloud, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube
Aliases:Chancelor Bennett, Instrumentality
Variations:Viewing All | Chance The Rapper
Chancellor Jonathan Bennett was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ken Williams-Bennett, was an aide to former Chicago mayor Harold Washington and then-Senator Barack Obama. His mother, Lisa Bennett, worked for the Illinois Attorney General. Bennett grew up in the middle-class neighborhood of West Chatham on Chicago’s South Side.[8] When Bennett was sixteen, his father began to work in the Department of Labor during President Barack Obama’s first term.[9][10] Bennett personally met President Obama in his youth and discussed his aspirations to be a rapper, to which Obama responded with “word”.[11] Bennett was originally going to move to Washington, D.C. following Obama’s win in the 2008 presidential election, though those plans eventually fell through.[12] Bennett attended Jones College Prep High School where he was a member of the Jewish Student Union.[13]
Bennett’s interest in music began with Michael Jackson, who he exclusively listened to on cassettes until the fifth grade.[14] Growing up, Bennett’s parents were constantly playing music, including Billie Holiday , Sam Cooke and other artists in the jazz and gospel genres.[15] 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.[16] Bennett considers West a huge influence on him and has said that he was inspired to begin rapping by West.[17][18][16] Bennett and West met each other in August 2014 at Bonnaroo Music Festival.[19]
Bennett began rapping in the sixth grade when his cousin let him start using his studio.[20] In his freshman year at Jones College Prep High School, Bennett formed the hip-hop duo Instrumentality alongside a friend.[21] Many of Chance’s earliest performances took place at the YOUmedia Lyricist Loft at Harold Washington Library in Chicago.[22] After placing second in a local songwriting contest, Bennett met then-Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley who enjoyed his music.[12] Bennett spent most of his junior year and a small amount of his senior year writing a draft for his debut project, 10 Day,[23] which was later released after Bennett was suspended for ten days after being caught smoking cannabis.[24]
Music career 2011–2012: Career beginnings and 10 Day
At Jones College Prep High School, some of his teachers ridiculed his aspirations to become a musician. In early 2011 during his senior year, following a 10-day suspension for marijuana possession on campus,Bennett recorded his first full-length project, a mixtape entitled 10 Day (also known as #10Day). In December 2011, he released a song titled “Windows”, and publicly announced his 10 Day project. In February 2012, Bennett was highlighted as one of Complex magazine’s “10 New Chicago Rappers to Watch Out For”.[30] Bennett says he spent “about eight months recording, writing, and making connections off of the hunger to put out something”. Bennett released the mixtape on April 3, 2012, and it has since been downloaded over 500,000 times via mixtape-sharing site DatPiff. The mixtape was well-received locally and helped Bennett make connections with producers such as Chuck Inglish, Kenny Jame$ and Blended Babies. The mixtape also grabbed the attention of Forbes magazine, which featured it in the publication’s Cheap Tunes column.
2012–2015: Acid Rap and The Social Experiment[edit]
Bennett’s interest in music began with Michael Jackson, who he exclusively listened to on cassettes until the fifth grade.[14] Growing up, Bennett’s parents were constantly playing music, including Billie Holiday , Sam Cooke and other artists in the jazz and gospel genres.[15] 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.[16] Bennett considers West a huge influence on him and has said that he was inspired to begin rapping by West.[17][18][16] Bennett and West met each other in August 2014 at Bonnaroo Music Festival.[19]
Bennett began rapping in the sixth grade when his cousin let him start using his studio.[20] In his freshman year at Jones College Prep High School, Bennett formed the hip-hop duo Instrumentality alongside a friend.[21] Many of Chance’s earliest performances took place at the YOUmedia Lyricist Loft at Harold Washington Library in Chicago.[22] After placing second in a local songwriting contest, Bennett met then-Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley who enjoyed his music.[12] Bennett spent most of his junior year and a small amount of his senior year writing a draft for his debut project, 10 Day,[23] which was later released after Bennett was suspended for ten days after being caught smoking cannabis.[24]
Music career 2011–2012: Career beginnings and 10 Day
At Jones College Prep High School, some of his teachers ridiculed his aspirations to become a musician. In early 2011 during his senior year, following a 10-day suspension for marijuana possession on campus,Bennett recorded his first full-length project, a mixtape entitled 10 Day (also known as #10Day). In December 2011, he released a song titled “Windows”, and publicly announced his 10 Day project. In February 2012, Bennett was highlighted as one of Complex magazine’s “10 New Chicago Rappers to Watch Out For”.[30] Bennett says he spent “about eight months recording, writing, and making connections off of the hunger to put out something”. Bennett released the mixtape on April 3, 2012, and it has since been downloaded over 500,000 times via mixtape-sharing site DatPiff. The mixtape was well-received locally and helped Bennett make connections with producers such as Chuck Inglish, Kenny Jame$ and Blended Babies. The mixtape also grabbed the attention of Forbes magazine, which featured it in the publication’s Cheap Tunes column.
2012–2015: Acid Rap and The Social Experiment[edit]
Main articles: Acid Rap and Surf (Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment album)
In July 2012, Bennett appeared on American rapper Childish Gambino’s sixth mixtape, Royalty, on the track “They Don’t Like Me”. Gambino would go on to ask Bennett to join on his first concert tour of North America as his opening
Chance the Rapper performing live in November 2013
On April 30, 2013, Bennett released his second mixtape, Acid Rap, on DatPiff. The record has been downloaded over 1.5 million times.Bennett enlisted guest appearances from Twista, Vic Mensa, Saba, BJ the Chicago Kid, Action Bronson, Childish Gambino and Ab-Soul. Acid Rapwas well-received by critics.[38] At Metacritic, the mixtape received an average score of 86, based on 21 critics, which indicates “universal acclaim”. It was nominated for Best Mixtape at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. On May 6, 2013, the song “Paranoia” (produced by Nosaj Thing), after initially being featured as a hidden track on Acid Rap, was released as a contribution to Yours Truly and Adidas originals’ “Songs from Scratch” series.[41]
In June 2013, Bennett was featured in a commercial for MySpace as part of their relaunch, alongside fellow American rappers Mac Miller, Pharrell Williams and Schoolboy Q, among others.[42] In July 2013, Acid Rap debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, due to downloads on iTunes and Amazon. In August 2013, Bennett performed at the Chicago music festival Lollapalooza. Acid Rap was listed on multiple 50 best albums of 2013 lists, including 26th for Rolling Stone,[45] 12th on Pitchfork’s list, and ranked 4th by Complex.[47] It was also listed as one of NPR Music’s 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. Bennett began his Social Experiment Tour in Champaign, Illinois, on October 25, 2013, lasting until December 19, 2013.
In March 2014, Bennett appeared in a shoppable online video for Dockers, promoting the brand’s spring line, in which Bennett talks his style, love for creating music, and how it feels to live in Los Angeles. On May 5, 2014, XXL revealed Bennett was included in their annual freshman class, alongside fellow up-and-comers Isaiah Rashad, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich Homie Quan, Vic Mensa, August Alsina, Troy Ave, Kevin Gates, Lil Bibby, Jon Connor, Lil Durk and Jarren Benton.[53] During Fall 2014, Bennett and other artists participated in Verge Campus tour.[54] In November 2014, Bennett was presented Chicago’s “Outstanding Youth of the Year Award” by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
In January 2015, Bennett was listed number 7 on the “Forbes 30 Under 30” 2015 music list. In March 2015, Bennett released a short film called Mr. Happy, which was directed by Colin Tilley. Mr. Happy centers around the main character, named Victor, who is struggling from depression and was attempting to commit suicide. After many failed attempts to kill himself, he discovers Mr. Happy. On April 30, 2015, Bennett gave a lecture at Harvard University’s Hiphop Archive & Research Institute.
Just before midnight on May 28, 2015, Surf was released for free on the American iTunes store as an iTunes Exclusive. The album received high acclaim from music critics, receiving an aggregate score of 86 on review site Metacritic, which indicates “universal acclaim”, based on 17 reviews. In June 2015, Bennett performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the superjam concert collection. He also made a guest performance with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar, on stage with Earth, Wind & Fire. On July 19, 2015, Bennett and Lil B announced that they recorded a collaborative mixtape. The two rappers released it on August 5, titled Free (Based Freestyles Mixtape).Chance The Rapper On October 13, 2015, Bennett released a video for a new song, titled “Family Matters”, on his website. The song, which shares the same name as his fall 2015 tour with D.R.A.M., Metro Boomin, Towkio (and Hiatus Kaiyote on select dates), is a rework of the Kanye West song “Family Business” from his 2004 album The College Dropout. A few days before this, a video surfaced online of Bennett performing a new song live, ending the song by saying the words “third mixtape”, leading many to believe the wait might be coming to a close for his next release. On October 27, 2015, Bennett premiered a new song, titled “Angels” featuring Saba, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On December 12, 2015, Bennett performed on Saturday Night Live, on a new song, titled “Somewhere in Paradise”.
2016–present: Coloring Book and debut album[edit]
In July 2012, Bennett appeared on American rapper Childish Gambino’s sixth mixtape, Royalty, on the track “They Don’t Like Me”. Gambino would go on to ask Bennett to join on his first concert tour of North America as his opening
Chance the Rapper performing live in November 2013
On April 30, 2013, Bennett released his second mixtape, Acid Rap, on DatPiff. The record has been downloaded over 1.5 million times.Bennett enlisted guest appearances from Twista, Vic Mensa, Saba, BJ the Chicago Kid, Action Bronson, Childish Gambino and Ab-Soul. Acid Rapwas well-received by critics.[38] At Metacritic, the mixtape received an average score of 86, based on 21 critics, which indicates “universal acclaim”. It was nominated for Best Mixtape at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. On May 6, 2013, the song “Paranoia” (produced by Nosaj Thing), after initially being featured as a hidden track on Acid Rap, was released as a contribution to Yours Truly and Adidas originals’ “Songs from Scratch” series.[41]
In June 2013, Bennett was featured in a commercial for MySpace as part of their relaunch, alongside fellow American rappers Mac Miller, Pharrell Williams and Schoolboy Q, among others.[42] In July 2013, Acid Rap debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, due to downloads on iTunes and Amazon. In August 2013, Bennett performed at the Chicago music festival Lollapalooza. Acid Rap was listed on multiple 50 best albums of 2013 lists, including 26th for Rolling Stone,[45] 12th on Pitchfork’s list, and ranked 4th by Complex.[47] It was also listed as one of NPR Music’s 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. Bennett began his Social Experiment Tour in Champaign, Illinois, on October 25, 2013, lasting until December 19, 2013.
In March 2014, Bennett appeared in a shoppable online video for Dockers, promoting the brand’s spring line, in which Bennett talks his style, love for creating music, and how it feels to live in Los Angeles. On May 5, 2014, XXL revealed Bennett was included in their annual freshman class, alongside fellow up-and-comers Isaiah Rashad, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich Homie Quan, Vic Mensa, August Alsina, Troy Ave, Kevin Gates, Lil Bibby, Jon Connor, Lil Durk and Jarren Benton.[53] During Fall 2014, Bennett and other artists participated in Verge Campus tour.[54] In November 2014, Bennett was presented Chicago’s “Outstanding Youth of the Year Award” by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
In January 2015, Bennett was listed number 7 on the “Forbes 30 Under 30” 2015 music list. In March 2015, Bennett released a short film called Mr. Happy, which was directed by Colin Tilley. Mr. Happy centers around the main character, named Victor, who is struggling from depression and was attempting to commit suicide. After many failed attempts to kill himself, he discovers Mr. Happy. On April 30, 2015, Bennett gave a lecture at Harvard University’s Hiphop Archive & Research Institute.
Just before midnight on May 28, 2015, Surf was released for free on the American iTunes store as an iTunes Exclusive. The album received high acclaim from music critics, receiving an aggregate score of 86 on review site Metacritic, which indicates “universal acclaim”, based on 17 reviews. In June 2015, Bennett performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the superjam concert collection. He also made a guest performance with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar, on stage with Earth, Wind & Fire. On July 19, 2015, Bennett and Lil B announced that they recorded a collaborative mixtape. The two rappers released it on August 5, titled Free (Based Freestyles Mixtape).Chance The Rapper On October 13, 2015, Bennett released a video for a new song, titled “Family Matters”, on his website. The song, which shares the same name as his fall 2015 tour with D.R.A.M., Metro Boomin, Towkio (and Hiatus Kaiyote on select dates), is a rework of the Kanye West song “Family Business” from his 2004 album The College Dropout. A few days before this, a video surfaced online of Bennett performing a new song live, ending the song by saying the words “third mixtape”, leading many to believe the wait might be coming to a close for his next release. On October 27, 2015, Bennett premiered a new song, titled “Angels” featuring Saba, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On December 12, 2015, Bennett performed on Saturday Night Live, on a new song, titled “Somewhere in Paradise”.
2016–present: Coloring Book and debut album[edit]
Main article: Coloring Book (mixtape)
In 2016, Bennett was a prominent figure on Kanye West’s album The Life of Pablo, co-writing and appearing on several tracks, including “Ultralight Beam”, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. “, “Famous”, “Feedback”, and “Waves”. According to West, the album’s release was delayed due to Bennett’s desire for “Waves” to make the album’s final cut. Bennett was also featured on a track titled “Need To Know” on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s album This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. The following March, Bennett was featured on Skrillex’s remix of Hundred Waters’ “Show Me Love”. On April 16, 2016, Chance and other musicians, including Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, and J. Cole, met with President Obama at the White House to discuss the My Brother’s Keeper Challenge initiative.
On May 12, 2016, Chance’s third mixtape, Coloring Book (promoted as Chance 3), was released, streaming exclusively on Apple Music. In the first week, the mixtape was streamed over 57.3 million times, which was equivalent to 38,000 units sold, debuting at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart. It became the first release to chart solely on streams. The mixtape was met with widespread acclaim from music critics, and on review aggregator site Metacritic, received an average score of 89, based on 21 critics, which indicates “universal acclaim”.
On July 13, at the 2016 ESPY Awards show, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he performed a tribute song titled “I Was A Rock” for the late Muhammad Ali. On August 16, 2016, Chance wrote the single “We the People” paired in a Nike commercial titled “Unlimited Together”, a film directed by Hiro Murai. A second commercial was released on October 4, by Nestlé, to promote the Kit Kat bar, with Chance starring in costume remixing their jingle. On September 15, 2016, Chance began his Magnificent Coloring World Tour in San Diego.
Bennett announced the Magnificent Coloring Tour with an event called Magnificent Coloring Day Festival at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, with a line up including Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Skrillex, Tyler, the Creator and Lil Uzi Vert, taking place on September 24, 2016, being the first-ever music festival at U.S. Cellular Field.[73] This one day festival event also featured a surprise appearance by Kanye West.[74] Bennett launched a campaign in conjunction with rapperradio.com to get his music on the radio on August 17, 2016.
In 2016, Bennett was a prominent figure on Kanye West’s album The Life of Pablo, co-writing and appearing on several tracks, including “Ultralight Beam”, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. “, “Famous”, “Feedback”, and “Waves”. According to West, the album’s release was delayed due to Bennett’s desire for “Waves” to make the album’s final cut. Bennett was also featured on a track titled “Need To Know” on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s album This Unruly Mess I’ve Made. The following March, Bennett was featured on Skrillex’s remix of Hundred Waters’ “Show Me Love”. On April 16, 2016, Chance and other musicians, including Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, and J. Cole, met with President Obama at the White House to discuss the My Brother’s Keeper Challenge initiative.
On May 12, 2016, Chance’s third mixtape, Coloring Book (promoted as Chance 3), was released, streaming exclusively on Apple Music. In the first week, the mixtape was streamed over 57.3 million times, which was equivalent to 38,000 units sold, debuting at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart. It became the first release to chart solely on streams. The mixtape was met with widespread acclaim from music critics, and on review aggregator site Metacritic, received an average score of 89, based on 21 critics, which indicates “universal acclaim”.
On July 13, at the 2016 ESPY Awards show, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he performed a tribute song titled “I Was A Rock” for the late Muhammad Ali. On August 16, 2016, Chance wrote the single “We the People” paired in a Nike commercial titled “Unlimited Together”, a film directed by Hiro Murai. A second commercial was released on October 4, by Nestlé, to promote the Kit Kat bar, with Chance starring in costume remixing their jingle. On September 15, 2016, Chance began his Magnificent Coloring World Tour in San Diego.
Bennett announced the Magnificent Coloring Tour with an event called Magnificent Coloring Day Festival at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, with a line up including Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Skrillex, Tyler, the Creator and Lil Uzi Vert, taking place on September 24, 2016, being the first-ever music festival at U.S. Cellular Field.[73] This one day festival event also featured a surprise appearance by Kanye West.[74] Bennett launched a campaign in conjunction with rapperradio.com to get his music on the radio on August 17, 2016.
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