In recent months, Chance the Rapper has gained traction with the general public, but he isn’t a new name on the scene. In fact, he has been creating amazing music for six years now and he just keeps getting better (his three Grammys are enough proof on their own).
Chance the Rapper is one of those artists that can be found in an interesting spot, where it seems that so many people respect them, but it still feels like they aren’t getting all of the recognition they truly deserve. This piece is to do exactly that – give Chance the Rapper all of the recognition he deserves, so let’s get into it, shall we?
He is an independent artist.
As someone who loves music and what it does for people, this is really important to me as a listener and fan of Chance the Rapper. Not everyone can win three Grammys while staying true to their independent roots, but Chance can and did.
It can be heard in the lyrics of his songs – the man loves music and cares about how he is distributing it. His song “Angels” is one of my favorite examples of this because there is a verse dedicated to Chance staying true to his roots and showing that he built his career on his own, without a major label signing him (*cough cough* that’s also what “No Problem” is about *cough cough*). The line: “I’m still at my old church, only ever sold merch, Grandma say I’m Kosher, mama say I’m culture” shows the mentality Chance takes into producing his music.
I am constantly in awe of Chance in this respect because there are so many hip hop artists in today’s day and age, but being such a successful independent rapper sets Chance apart. Unfortunately, not everyone finds being an independent artist to be as impressive – Chance even struggles with getting radio time in Chicago because he’s an independent rapper and that’s where he’s from. Personally, I’d rather support an independent rapper over a cookie cutter rapper signed by a major label, but maybe that’s just me.
He cares.
I’m not even from Chicago and I find it admirable how much Chance gives back to the city that he’s from. Often artists make it big and forget about where they came from, but nothing seems to be stopping Chance from loving his hometown. He’s even said before that he could never see himself buying a fancy house anywhere and that he just wants to come back to Chicago to be around the people that matter to him.
I’m going to bring up the example of “Angels” off Coloring Book again because it is just that amazing of a song. The entire song is about the city of Chicago and Chance has even shared that the angels he is referring to in the song are the youths lost to gun violence in Chicago. He even featured a fellow Chicago musician, Saba, on the track and included phrases used locally.
His love for Chicago goes deeper than just shout outs in songs and interviews. Chance often works with local charities (he even did a live stream of a concert to raise money for Hurricane Maria victims and has his own charity, SocialWorks, which is a charity that gives back to the youth) and has been seen doing appearances at local elementary schools. What may seem like a small task for him, could make some kid’s year that much better. It is amazing to think that someone could come into such fame and success so fast and still be fully submerged in their local community.
I mean, Chicago wants him to be their mayor – does it get any more serious than that?
He is a man of many talents.
Have you heard him rap? Have you seen him dance? Have you heard him sing? That’s right, he does all of them and he does them amazingly. When he raps it seems effortless and I think that it ties back to how much he actually loves doing what he does, which is rare these days. The great thing about Chance’s raps is that because he cares so much, each song has a lot of meaning in it which makes it more special.
Chance honestly has one of my favorite voices in the hip hop scene when he sings. It is so clear the gospel influence he has in each song and it makes me feel all warm inside every time I hear it. His song “Blessings” is so beautiful, I could listen to him sing it all day, every day and I’m not even a believer. That’s another wonderful thing about Chance – even though he is highly influenced by his relationship with God, he doesn’t make someone like me feel like I can’t relate to him. The way he goes about presenting that important part of him is admirable and I wish more people tried to do it too.
If you haven’t seen the music video for “May I Have This Dance,” do yourself a favor and watch it. Seriously. It is such a good showcase of what Chance can do in the dancing department. I remember being as mesmerized watching him dance in that video as I was when I saw him perform live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. It is seriously unfair how talented this one man is, I swear.
He is one of the humblest in the game.
The thing about Chance is that he is seriously only 24 years old. I say this because it is important to compare the way he has handled his success as compared to other artists in his age range. I’ll say it one more time – the man has won three Grammys and continues to go about his musical career as he has since the beginning. In his newest song “First World Problems” he talks about the idea that he although he has reached such success he just wants his mom and family to be happy. There is no way he doesn’t know how important he is in the hip hop industry right now, and it is amazing that he carries himself in such a way.
Check out “First World Problems”