The beginning of a new week means more this time than previous weekly starts. Last week was filled with disaster with a category 5 hurricane bearing down on my Bahamian friends and neighbors, bringing utter destruction to thousands. Here in Miami we were worried that Hurricane Dorian might be headed our way, but it missed us this time. Two years ago South Florida did survive a hurricane. Not nearly packing the intense winds of Dorian, but enough to disrupt everyday life for a while. However, through it all I was able to publish a blog entry. Today, I don’t have such distractions, but it is still difficult to make this week happen.
The driving force for this weeks’ post is that I am featuring American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor and activist Chance the Rapper. Oh, I forgot to mention he is also a fellow Chicagoan born and raised on the South side. He and I are similar in many ways. Coming from the same place geographically and socially means that I understand his music and other endeavors. For me, this week brings me back home. It is that opportunity to feature an artist like Chance that makes this week one to remember.
Hardly a newcomer, Chance The Rapper got his start in music right after high school and just continued to gain prominence up until today. I know that Chance has broken into the view and ears of mainstream America, but I wondered how he and his music received by the older generation of music fans. Or, the parents of the large part of his fan base. I think at this point in Chance The Rapper’s career it might be good to examine his overall place in the world community. Let’s start at the beginning.
Chancelor Jonathan Bennett was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ken Williams-Bennett, was an aide to the late 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. When Bennett was sixteen, his father began to work in the Department of Labor during President Barack Obama’s first term.
Bennett’s interest in music began with Michael Jackson, who he exclusively listened to on cassettes until the fifth grade. Growing up, Bennett’s parents were constantly playing music, including Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke and other artists in the jazz and gospel genres. 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. Bennett considers West a huge influence on him and has said that he was inspired to begin rapping by West.
Chance had what most would call a very stable upbringing. Middle-class home with very politically active parents are the recipe for a good future in a child’s life. However, most were dismayed by Chance’s decision to pursue music and rapping as a young person. At Jones College Prep High School, some of his teachers ridiculed his aspirations to become a musician. I wonder where they are now? Worse yet, I wonder if they discouraged any other students who might have otherwise become extremely successful? Just something to think about when listening to the aspirations of our young people.
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”. The list was significant because it included Chief Keef and Lil’ Durk, who also went on to stardom outside of Chicago. 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.
The next few years would see the rise of Chance The Rapper as a bigger star on the national and international music scene. Not only did the young star deliver hit music, but he started to appear on much larger stages and in front of major audiences. On October 13, 2015, Chance 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 Chance 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”.
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”.
I knew Chance The Rapper had arrived in the mainstream when I saw him performing the hit song No Problem on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime show. Also the Kit Kat bar commercial proved Chance was marketable to a broad audience. Therefore I think I answered my initial question about how parents received Chance The Rapper. The young artist is firmly in the living rooms pf the world. To solidify my point, During Super Bowl LII Chance appeared alongside The Backstreet Boys in a commercial for Doritos with the two artist performing a remix of “I Want it That Way”.
On July 26, 2019, Chance released his debut studio album The Big Day. The album follows several mixtapes by the rapper including the reissue of his collaborative Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama in 2017, and is his first solo project since Coloring Book in 2016. The album was influenced by Chance’s marriage, which occurred in March 2019. That’s a pretty big day in a person’s life. Earlier this month, Chance’s wife Kirsten announced they had their second daughter named Marli. Another huge day.
It seems that Chance is finding balance in his personal life, and that’s always good to see. There have been quite a few Big Day’s in his life so far, but it looks like at twenty-six, Chance The Rapper is going to experience a few more. Yes, and more music too!