Chance the Rapper

Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape 10 Day (2012) during one of his high school suspensions. He gained mainstream recognition in 2013 following the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap.

His third mixtape, Coloring Book (2016), was met with further critical acclaim and commercial success, peaking at number eight on the Billboard 200 as an independent release. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, Bennett won Best New Artist and the mixtape became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award—Best Rap Album—while it spawned the single "No Problem" (featuring 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne), which won Best Rap Performance.

His debut studio album, The Big Day (2019), peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and saw moderate critical reception from critics and largely negative reviews from fans. Bennett announced the release of his second album, Star Line, in July 2025 after a nearly 2-year album rollout that included a legacy tour, various festival acts, and sporadic singles and music videos.

In addition to his solo career, Bennett is a member of the Chicago-based collective Savemoney, and is a lead vocalist for the hip hop band the Social Experiment, led by trumpeter Nico Segal. The band released their album Surf in 2015. He has since been prolific in social activism and philanthropic endeavors in his hometown.

Early life

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, worked for the Illinois attorney general. Bennett grew up in the middle-class neighborhood of West Chatham on Chicago's South Side. When he was sixteen, Bennett's father began to work in the Department of Labor during President Barack Obama's first term. Bennett personally met Obama in his youth and talked about his aspirations to be a rapper, to which Obama responded with "word". Bennett was originally going to move to Washington, D.C., following Obama's win in the 2008 presidential election, although those plans eventually fell through. Bennett attended Jones College Prep High School where he was a member of the Jewish Student Union.

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. 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. Bennett and West met each other in August 2014 at Bonnaroo Music Festival.

Bennett began rapping in the sixth grade when his cousin let him start using his studio. In his freshman year at Jones College Prep High School, Bennett formed the hip-hop duo Instrumentality alongside a friend. Many of Chance's earliest performances took place at the YOUmedia Lyricist Loft at Harold Washington Library in Chicago. After placing second in a local songwriting contest, Bennett met then-Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley who enjoyed his music. Bennett spent most of his junior year and a small amount of his senior year writing a draft for his debut project, 10 Day, which was later released after Bennett was suspended for ten days after being caught smoking cannabis.

Music career

2011–2012: Career beginnings and 10 Day

At Jones College Prep High School, some of Bennett's teachers ridiculed his aspirations to become a musician. In 2011 during his school year, following a 10-day suspension for marijuana possession on campus, he recorded his first full-length project in a span of 8 months, 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". He says he spent "about eight months recording, writing, and making connections off of the hunger to put out something". He released the mixtape on April 3, 2012, and it has since been downloaded over 500,000 times via mixtape-sharing site DatPiff. The mixtape was well-received locally and helped him make connections with producers such as Chuck Inglish, Kenny Jame$, and Blended Babies. The mixtape grabbed the attention of Forbes magazine, which featured it in the publication's Cheap Tunes column.

2012–2015: Acid Rap and The Social Experiment

In July 2012, Bennett appeared on Childish Gambino's sixth mixtape, Royalty, on the track "They Don't Like Me". Gambino asked Bennett to join him on his first concert tour of North America as his opening act.

On April 30, 2013, Bennett released his second mixtape, Acid Rap, on DatPiff. The record has been downloaded over 1.5 million times. He got Twista, Vic Mensa, Saba, BJ the Chicago Kid, Action Bronson, Childish Gambino, and Ab-Soul to make guest appearances. Acid Rap was well received by critics. At Metacritic, the mixtape received an average score of 86, based on 21 critics, which indicates "universal acclaim". It was nominated for Best Mixtape at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards. On May 6, 2013, the song "Paranoia" (produced by Nosaj Thing), after initially being featured as a hidden track on Acid Rap, was released as a contribution to Yours Truly and Adidas originals' "Songs from Scratch" series. In June 2013, Bennett was featured in a commercial for MySpace as part of their relaunch, alongside fellow American rappers Mac Miller, Pharrell Williams and Schoolboy Q, among others. In July 2013, Acid Rap debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, due to downloads on iTunes and Amazon. In August 2013, Bennett performed at the Chicago music festival Lollapalooza. Acid Rap was listed on multiple 50 best albums of 2013 lists, including 26th for Rolling Stone, 12th on Pitchfork's list, and ranked 4th by Complex. It was also listed as one of NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. Bennett began his Social Experiment Tour in Champaign, Illinois, on October 25, 2013, lasting until December 19, 2013.

In March 2014, Bennett appeared in a shoppable online video for Dockers, promoting the brand's spring line, in which Bennett talks his style, love for creating music, and how it feels to live in Los Angeles. On May 5, 2014, XXL revealed Bennett was included in their annual freshman class, alongside fellow up-and-comers Isaiah Rashad, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich Homie Quan, Vic Mensa, August Alsina, Troy Ave, Kevin Gates, Lil Bibby, Jon Connor, Lil Durk and Jarren Benton. During Fall 2014, Bennett and other artists participated in Verge Campus tour. In November 2014, Bennett was presented Chicago's "Outstanding Youth of the Year Award" by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

In January 2015, Bennett was listed number 7 on the "Forbes 30 Under 30" 2015 music list. In March 2015, Bennett released a short film called Mr. Happy, which was directed by Colin Tilley. Mr. Happy centers around the main character, named Victor, who is struggling from depression and was attempting to kill himself. After many suicide attempts, he discovers Mr. Happy. Along with boxer Mike Tyson, Bennett worked with Madonna to write and feature on the track "Iconic" released that same month. On April 30, 2015, Bennett gave a lecture at Harvard University's Hiphop Archive & Research Institute. Just before midnight on May 28, 2015, Surf was released for free on the American iTunes store as an iTunes Exclusive. The album received high acclaim from music critics, receiving an aggregate score of 86 on review site Metacritic, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 17 reviews. In June 2015, Bennett performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in the super jam concert collection. He also made a guest performance with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar, on stage with Earth, Wind & Fire. On July 19, 2015, Bennett and Lil B announced that they recorded a collaborative mixtape. The two rappers released it on August 5, titled Free (Based Freestyles Mixtape).