Tom Head - Chance the Rapper: Musician and Activist

Published in 2020 by Enslow Publishing, LLC. 101 W. 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011 Copyright 2020 by Enslow Publishing, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Head, Tom, author. | Head, Deirdre, author.

Title: Chance the Rapper: musician and activist / Tom Head and Deirdre Head. Description: New York: Enslow Publishing, 2020. | Series: Stars of hip-hop | Audience: 2 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018046991| ISBN 9781978509566 (library bound) | ISBN 9781978510036 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781978510043 (6 pack) Subjects: LCSH: Chance the RapperJuvenile literature. | Rap musiciansUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. Classification: LCC ML3930.C442 H43 2020 | DDC 782.421649092 [B] dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046991 Printed in the United States of America To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all websites in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press.

However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those websites or on any websites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by email to . Photo Credits: Cover, p. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images. CONTENTS BECOMING THE RAPPER C hance the Rappers name is Chancelor Bennett. He was born on April 16, 1993, in Chicago.

His father, Ken, worked for Barack Obama. His mother, Lisa, worked for the Illinois . Lisa also owned a tobacco farm. Chance has a younger brother named Taylor. Chance and his brother grew up in Chicago. Chance didnt like rap at first.

The first rap album he loved was Kanye Wests . It was called The College Dropout. It came out when Chance was eleven years old. Chance started rapping. He was talented. Chance the Rapper attends the 2017 BET Awards. Chance the Rapper attends the 2017 BET Awards.

RAPPER OR LAWYER? When Chance was fifteen, Barack Obama became president. Ken brought his sons to meet him. Chance wanted to be a rapper. But Ken had Chance tell the president he wanted to be a lawyer. Ken did not think rapping was a good way to make a living. Chance and his father disagreed about his future.

When Chance was seventeen, he was caught smoking pot. His school suspended him for ten days. He spent those days working on his first . He called it 10 Day. It was named after the suspension. When he went back to school, he kept working on the mixtape. Instrumentality Chances friends called him Chano.

He and his friend Jason often rapped together. They called their group Instrumentality. Their song Good Enough became popular in Chicago. Chance the Rapper poses with his parents, Ken and Lisa Bennett, at the 2017 pre-Grammy party. TALENT AND TRAGEDY Later that year, Chance went to a house party. He went with his friend Rodney.

Rodney was a fellow rapper. They bumped into a stranger. The stranger stabbed Rodney to death, then ran away. Rodney was one of three friends Chance lost that year. It made him angry and scared. Chance the Rapper performs at the 2016 Meadows Music and Arts Festival in New York.

His dreams of becoming a successful rapper came true. Chance and his father had a long talk that night. Chance promised to go to college in a year if he didnt become a successful rapper. The next April, his father saw an article in Forbes magazine about Chance. It praised his first album. Ken saw that his son was a talented rapper.

People liked Chances work. Ken decided to support Chances rap career. Im a rapper! You should be able to say that and, like, make someone scared in a good way. MAKING HISTORY C hance began 2012 as a young man with big dreams. He was already famous in Chicago. Soon, Chance released 10 Day.

But he didnt sell the mixtape in stores. He gave it away for free online. Most new rappers make a deal with a record company to sell their music. But Chance was so grateful that people liked his work. He wanted them to have it for free. He calls these releases mixtapes, not albums.

Mixtapes are given away for free. Albums cost money. Acid Rap Chance soon became famous. Would he keep putting out free music? He released his second mixtape, Acid Rap, in 2013. It was downloaded more than a million times. Chance visits Sway in the Morning , a radio show, on June 19, 2013.

He talked about Acid Rap . BECOMING A SUPERSTAR Chances fans in Chicago knew he was talented. 10 Day showed the world his talent. He released his third mixtape, Coloring Book, in 2016. By this time, Chance was a success. Chance performs with his role model, Kanye West, at the 2016 Magnificent Coloring Day Festival in Chicago. Chance performs with his role model, Kanye West, at the 2016 Magnificent Coloring Day Festival in Chicago.

Chance put the festival together. from the Chicago Childrens Choir. I dont have to carry myself as anybody that Im not, and people picked up on it. A NEW KIND OF SUCCESS Chance made mixtapes popular. Before he became famous, record companies decided who would make it big. Chance put his work online for free.

This showed other musicians they could do the same thing. Chance even showed that they could make money doing this. Chance makes his thank-you speech at the 59th Grammy Awards after winning for Best Rap Album. by Justin Bieber, Big Sean, and John Legend. CHICAGOS CHAMPION C hance grew up in Chicago. So he knew the citys public schools were important.

In March 2017, Chance gave one million dollars to the schools. He did this after the governor turned down $215 million for the schools. But Chance knew this wouldnt be enough. He asked the citys businesses to help the public schools. He also asked the governor to work with political leaders to solve the school funding problem. On March 6, 2017, Chance gave one million dollars to the Chicago public schools.

Chance also helped create an organization called SocialWorks. It has raised millions more for Chicagos public schools. Im not going anywhere. Im gonna live in Chicago till the day I die. BUSINESS IS GOOD Chance puts out his music in his Christian faith. And it represents his new family: himself, his fiance Kirsten Corley, and their daughter, Kensli.