Chance The Rapper

Hailed as “a generational voice” by GQ and “an outstanding role model” by President Barack Obama, multi-Grammy award winner Chance the Rapper has built a multi-faceted career, redefining what it means to be an independent artist. Chance has never signed a record deal—opting instead to make his music available for free. Born and raised in Chicago, Chance made history in 2017 when he became the first artist to win a Grammy for a streaming-only mixtape—collecting a trio of statues for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album for his now-iconic Coloring Book. 

Chance is currently on a path to intertwine the worlds of art, music and cinematography through groundbreaking work and installations, as he prepares to release a new body of work, Star Line Gallery, this year. The project contains a series of interdisciplinary works in collaboration with fine artists from The Continent and The Diaspora. The resulting pieces redefine the notion of ‘album art’ and are compelling conversations and meditations on Black life. Over the past year, these works (“Child of God,” “A Bar About A Bar,” “The Highs & The Lows” and “YAH Know”) have premiered at art institutions around the world including Art Basel, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), The Art Institute of Chicago, and Los Angeles’ Museum Of Contemporary Art (MOCA). 

Alongside his music, Chance’s expanding career also includes film and television credits. In 2021, he became the first artist to independently distribute a film through AMC Theatres via his Magnificent Coloring World concert film, written, produced, edited and distributed by Chance himself. His portrayal of the character Herbert on the HBO Max series Southside earned Chance a 2023 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Performance. In Spring 2023, Chance made his highly-anticipated debut as a coach on Season 23 of The Voice. 

Coming from a long line of activists and community organizers, Chance was raised with a strong sense of purpose and a dedication to giving back. Through his nonprofit organization SocialWorks, he aims to inspire and empower youth through arts, education and civic engagement. Since 2016, SocialWorks has contributed $10M to the Chicagoland community, impacting approximately 10k students annually. Chance kicked off this year by organizing a self-funded free festival in Accra, Ghana that drew upwards of 52,000 attendees. The “Black Star Line Festival” was founded with a mission to foster cultural exchange between Black people of The Continent and the global Diaspora.

Puja Patel