Chance the Rapper: changing the face of hip hop
A young Chicago rapper is showing aspiring youths how to establish their voices in the hip-hop world
On a brutally cold late winter afternoon, an open-mic event at the Chicago Cultural Centre was packing them in. More than 250 high school students lined up to enter the Claudia Cassidy Theatre, where their school IDs were checked by young adults wearing black "Social Experiment Staff" T-shirts.
On stage, the first performer found himself standing in a familiar position, one he had occupied for years when he was a no-name would-be rapper from 79th Street on the South Side of Chicago. Once again at the microphone with all eyes on him, it was time to show and prove. Only this time Chancelor Bennett - aka Chance the Rapper - wasn't nervous, but peered out from beneath his black baseball cap with a broad, welcoming smile.
"Young creatives!" Chance shouted over an eruption of cheers. "In life, it's important to have a democratic means to talk to people … so become acquainted with each other. This is your own space, and you should be able to say what you want to each other."
The 21-year-old MC, with poet Malcolm London at his side, was carrying on a tradition that had become like a second family to him. It was here on these impromptu stages at Chicago's Harold Washington Library YouMedia Centre, Columbia College and elsewhere, under the tutelage of such community builders as the late "Brother Mike" Hawkins and Kevin Coval, that he found his voice, and attended workshops that helped him record his music - music that is now transforming contemporary hip hop.
[Chance’s voice] was against the grain and required more work from listeners
"I started hitting the open mics when I was about 14, 15" and a student at Jones College Prep High School in Chicago's Loop, Chance says. "I got into competitions, I learned about the business, I learned how to present my music and make it pop. I learned how to spoon-feed my music to people who were open to hearing it."