Chance the Rapper
West Chatham rapper whose free mixtapes “Acid Rap” and “Coloring Book” made him a national star, and whose Grammy wins came without a record label behind him.
West Chatham and SaveMoney
Chancelor Jonathan Bennett was born in Chicago on April 16, 1993, and grew up in the West Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. He attended Jones College Prep and ran with the SaveMoney collective alongside Vic Mensa and other young Chicago rappers. His younger brother is the rapper Taylor Bennett.
Mixtape breakthrough
A ten-day suspension from high school inspired his first mixtape, “10 Day,” released April 3, 2012. “Acid Rap,” released for free on April 30, 2013, brought him national attention. He also fronted Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment, whose album “Surf” arrived in May 2015.
“Coloring Book” and the Grammys
“Coloring Book,” released May 13, 2016, was recorded over weeks at Chicago Recording Company, streamed exclusively on Apple Music for its first two weeks, and was never sold for purchase, yet reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200. It earned him seven nominations, and at the 2017 Grammy Awards it won Best Rap Album, the first streaming-only release to do so, and Chance also took Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance for “No Problem” with Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz, becoming a symbol of independent success in the streaming era.
Albums and later work
His debut studio album “The Big Day” came out July 26, 2019, and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, though its reception was mixed. After six years of scattered releases, he self-released “Star Line” on August 15, 2025, reuniting with early Chicago collaborators including producers Nico Segal and Peter CottonTale and guests such as Vic Mensa, Jamila Woods, Smino, BJ the Chicago Kid and the veteran Chicago group Do or Die, alongside Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Jay Electronica and Jazmine Sullivan.
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