Chance the Rapper: "From the Ground Up"

Written By: Tracy Giunta

Chancelor Bennett AKA Chance the Rapper was born on April 16, 1993 in Chicago.  As a young teenager, he felt the passion to become a rapper. It wasn't until a 10 day suspension from his CPS high school, that he had the opportunity to hone in on his gifted ability to create rap songs. 

Chance didn't start out as a typical rapper with the fast beat and quick lyrics. He dropped his first track from the album, "10 Days, in February of 2012. The track was called, "Windows" featuring Alex Wiley and Akenya Seymour. The track has a smooth beat with Chance spitting lyrically at a fast pace. After he released the track he was instantaneously named one of the top 10 new Chicago rappers to watch out for by Complex magazine. It took Chance eight months to complete the album but on April 3, 2012 he dropped the album and the people of Chicago embraced this album with 250,000 downloads!  Chance was brilliant when he decided to team up with producers Chuck Inglish and Blended Babies. Chance got the attention of Childish Gambino who saw the true talent in Chance and asked him to join him on tour in 2012. From this point on, Chance was swooped up into the music industry due to his amazing skills as a rapper and music writer. 

Next, Chance created a second album called, Acid Rap. This album was downloaded over 800,00 times. He asked fellow artists such as Nas, Twista, Vic Mensa, Bj the Chicago Kid, Action Bronson, Childish Gambino and Ab Soul to make guest vocal appearances on this album. Needless to say, Chance once again made a brilliant choice. This album earned him a nomination for Best Mixtape at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. Chance was on a roll and he didn't stop there. He was in a commercial for MySpace with Mac Miller, Pharrell, and Schoolboy Q.  Chance's tape also made it to number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip -Hop Albums. 

In August 2013 Chance was given the much worthy opportunity to perform at one of the largest music festivals, Lollapalooza. His Chi-Town family welcomed him with open arms. He performed with passion, and showed all his god given musical talents. 

The next step for Chance was to add the band Social Experiment to his music. This band has helped create your not so typical kind of rap songs. The songs Chance has released from his work with Social Experiment are more lyrical in nature but have amazing vocals by Chance and his back up singers.
Fast forward to now.. Chance is currently completing a college tour that takes him from coast to coast. He has merchandise specially designed for the college he is performing at. When I see the photos on Instagram, I wish he was coming back to chi-town to perform.
Chance the Rapper went from a troubled kid( according to his high school) to a well-rounded, well known, creative, lyrical, intelligent rapper that will only get better which each endeavor.

Stream his two projects below: