Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. He gained widespread recognition with his second mixtape, Acid Rap (2013), which helped establish him as a leading figure in Chicago hip-hop and among independent artists.
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. He gained widespread recognition with his second mixtape, Acid Rap (2013), which helped establish him as a leading figure in Chicago hip-hop and among independent artists.
His third mixtape, Coloring Book (2016), received critical acclaim and became the first streaming-only project to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, while its single "No Problem" (featuring 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne) won Best Rap Performance. His debut album, The Big Day (2019), peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. He released his second album, Star Line, in 2025.
As a featured artist, he has appeared on songs including "Ultralight Beam" by Kanye West and the chart-topping single "I'm the One" by DJ Khaled. Bennett is also a member of the Chicago-based collective Savemoney and a lead vocalist for the hip hop band the Social Experiment. Outside of music, he has worked in television and film, including serving as a judge on the Netflix series Rhythm + Flow and as a coach on The Voice. He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for writing the song "Last Christmas", performed during his appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2017.
His accolades include three Grammy Awards (including Best New Artist), three BET Awards, and a Soul Train Music Award. He is among the highest-grossing hip-hop touring artists and has also pursued philanthropic efforts, including advocating for the public education system in Chicago.
Bennett was born on April 16, 1993, 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.
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. He gained widespread recognition with his second mixtape, Acid Rap (2013), which helped establish him as a leading figure in Chicago hip-hop and among independent artists.
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. He gained widespread recognition with his second mixtape, Acid Rap (2013), which helped establish him as a leading figure in Chicago hip-hop and among independent artists.
His third mixtape, Coloring Book (2016), received critical acclaim and became the first streaming-only project to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, while its single "No Problem" (featuring 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne) won Best Rap Performance. His debut album, The Big Day (2019), peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. He released his second album, Star Line, in 2025.
As a featured artist, he has appeared on songs including "Ultralight Beam" by Kanye West and the chart-topping single "I'm the One" by DJ Khaled. Bennett is also a member of the Chicago-based collective Savemoney and a lead vocalist for the hip hop band the Social Experiment. Outside of music, he has worked in television and film, including serving as a judge on the Netflix series Rhythm + Flow and as a coach on The Voice. He received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for writing the song "Last Christmas", performed during his appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2017.
His accolades include three Grammy Awards (including Best New Artist), three BET Awards, and a Soul Train Music Award. He is among the highest-grossing hip-hop touring artists and has also pursued philanthropic efforts, including advocating for the public education system in Chicago.
Bennett was born on April 16, 1993, 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.
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 titled 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.
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).
On October 13, 2015, Bennett released a video for a new song, titled "Family Matters", on his website. The song, which shares the same name as his fall 2015 tour with D.R.A.M., Metro Boomin, Towkio (and Hiatus Kaiyote on select dates), is a rework of the Kanye West song "Family Business" from his 2004 album The College Dropout. A few days before this, a video surfaced online of Bennett performing a new song live, ending the song by saying the words "third mixtape", leading many to believe the wait might be coming to a close for his next release. On October 27, 2015, Bennett premiered a new song, titled "Angels" featuring Saba, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On December 12, 2015, Bennett performed on Saturday Night Live, on a new song, titled "Somewhere in Paradise", which featured Jeremih and fellow Chicago artist R. Kelly. The song was later pulled from circulation in wake of the airing of the television documentary, Surviving R. Kelly in 2019, which exposed new allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault by Kelly. Bennett expressed his regret of working with Kelly, and apologized with a statement on Twitter.
In 2016, Bennett was a prominent figure on Kanye West's album The Life of Pablo, co-writing and appearing on several tracks, including "Ultralight Beam", "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1", "Famous", "Feedback", and "Waves". According to West, the album's release was delayed due to Bennett's desire for "Waves" to make the album's final cut. Bennett was also featured on a track titled "Need To Know" on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's album This Unruly Mess I've Made. The following March, Bennett was featured on Skrillex's remix of Hundred Waters' "Show Me Love". On April 16, 2016, Bennett and other musicians, including Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, and J. Cole met with President Obama at the White House to discuss the My Brother's Keeper Challenge initiative.
On May 12, 2016, Bennett's third mixtape, Coloring Book (promoted as Chance 3), was released, streaming exclusively on Apple Music. In the first week, the mixtape was streamed over 57.3 million times, which was equivalent to 38,000 units sold, debuting at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart. It became the first release to chart solely on streams. The mixtape was met with widespread acclaim from music critics, and on review aggregator site Metacritic, received an average score of 89, based on 21 critics, which indicates "universal acclaim". On July 13, at the 2016 ESPY Awards show, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he performed a tribute song titled "I Was A Rock" for the late Muhammad Ali. On August 16, 2016, Chance wrote the single "We the People" paired in a Nike commercial titled "Unlimited Together", a film directed by Hiro Murai. A second commercial was released on October 4, by Nestlé, to promote the Kit Kat bar, with Chance starring in costume remixing their jingle. On September 15, 2016, Chance began his Magnificent Coloring World Tour in San Diego.
Bennett announced the Magnificent Coloring Tour with an event called Magnificent Coloring Day Festival at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field, with a line up including Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Skrillex, Tyler, the Creator and Lil Uzi Vert, taking place on September 24, 2016, being the first-ever music festival at U.S. Cellular Field. This one day festival event also featured a surprise appearance by Kanye West. Bennett launched a campaign in conjunction with rapperradio.com to get his music on the radio on August 17, 2016.
In September 2016, H&M solicited Bennett to headline their new campaign. In November 2016, he continued on the Magnificent Coloring World Tour, but cancelled the rest of his shows on the European leg for personal reasons. In November 2016, Bennett announced during an interview with DJ Semtex that he was working on his debut album. Bennett was offered a chance to sign with Kanye West's GOOD Music in December 2016, though he refused due to his popularity as an independent artist and the freedom of not being attached to a label. In an August interview about his debut album, Bennett said he may sell the album, a departure from his previous projects' free distribution format. After a report was leaked claiming that audio distribution platform SoundCloud was close to bankruptcy and had laid off most of its workers, Bennett had a phone call with SoundCloud CEO Alex Ljung. Following the phone call, Bennett went onto Twitter, posting that SoundCloud is "here to stay". It was later reported that Bennett was just reflecting on what Ljung had previously published in a press release following the leak. Soon after, Bennett released a SoundCloud exclusive track with Young Thug called "Big B's" to benefit the platform, a surprise move that was planned in response to the SoundCloud bankruptcy leak.
In February 2017, Bennett performed at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, receiving 7 nominations and winning 3 Grammys. His performance featured Kirk Franklin and Tamela Mann, along with a gospel choir and orchestra conducted by Tom Brooks. On July 13, Bennett performed a NPR Tiny Desk Concert where he recited an original poem. The poem, titled "The Other Side", was crafted on his ride from his hotel, in Washington, D.C., to the NPR music offices and was written with black marker on typing paper. Chance also performed, "Juke Jam", a song off of his album Coloring Book, and a cover to Stevie Wonder's song "They Won't Go When I Go" released in 1974.
In July 2017, Bennett was nominated for an Emmy Award for his song "Last Christmas" that was performed on Saturday Night Live. He shares the nomination with Kenan Thompson, Eli Brueggemann, and Will Stephen in the category for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. In August 2017, Bennett headlined day three of Lollapalooza at Grant Park in his hometown of Chicago. His performance drew record crowds with some estimates making it the largest attended performance in the event's history. In November 2017, Bennett curated and headlined the Obama Foundation community event at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The event capstoned the inaugural Obama Summit event which featured special guests including former President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Andra Day, Gloria Estefan, Aziz Ansari, Lena Waithe, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more.
In 2018, he featured on "Logout", a song from Saba's album Care for Me and "Best Life" from Cardi B's debut album Invasion of Privacy, and released 4 new songs in July. Bennett performed at Mac Miller: A Celebration of Life on October 31, 2018, a tribute concert in honor of the recently passed Mac Miller. On November 29, 2018, Bennett released 2 new songs, "My Own Thing" and "The Man Who Has Everything", and announced on February 11, 2019, that his debut album would be released sometime in July of that same year. During Super Bowl LII Bennett appeared alongside The Backstreet Boys in a commercial for Doritos with the two artist performing a remix of "I Want it That Way" In May of that year Bennett was featured in Ed Sheeran's song "Cross Me" On July 26, 2019, Bennett released his debut studio album The Big Day.
In 2019, he wrote the song "True Kinda Love" for Steven Universe: The Movie alongside Rebecca Sugar, James Fauntleroy, Macie Stewart, and Julian Sanchez, with vocals being performed by Estelle and Zach Callison. In December 2019, Bennett canceled his "The Big World Tour" for the second time to spend time with his newborn daughter.
In January 2020, it was announced that Bennett will be the host of the reboot of Punk'd that will air on the streaming service Quibi.
In February 2020, Nickelodeon announced that Bennett would be the host of the 2020 Kids' Choice Awards on March 22. The entire show was later scrapped and replaced with a virtual ceremony hosted by Victoria Justice from her home, delayed to May 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with a lack of live musical performances overall due to the circumstances.
In July 2021, Bennett released Magnificent Coloring World, a concert film directed by Jake Schreier documenting a 2016 exclusive-fan performance of the Magnificent Coloring World Tour shot at Cinescape Studios in Chicago. Through his content production company House of Kicks, Bennett signed a trailblazing international distribution agreement with AMC Theatres for the film, marking the first time an individual recording artist has distributed a film through AMC.
In summer 2022, Bennett announced his forthcoming album titled Star Line Gallery and began to release several singles over the next few months including "Child of God", "Wraith" (with Vic Mensa and Smoko Ono), and "The Highs & the Lows" (with Joey Badass).
On October 11, 2022, it was announced that Bennett would be a coach on the 23rd season of The Voice in spring 2023. He didn't return as a coach for the twenty-fourth season in the fall 2023, and was replaced by John Legend, but briefly participated in the season as an advisor. In June 2023, it was announced that Bennett would return to The Voice as a coach for the 25th season in spring 2024. On April 23, 2024, he released the single "Buried Alive", announced that the project was renamed to Star Line, and that it would be released as a mixtape. In the song, he addresses various aspects of his life including his latest divorce, his fallout with his former manager, and criticisms he has faced in recent years. Bennett is scheduled to headline the "And We Back Tour" in 2025 in support of the album. Star Line was released on August 15, 2025.
Bennett has said in interviews with XXL and Complex that Kanye West, James Brown, MC Hammer, Prince, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Esham, Eminem, Souls of Mischief, and Freestyle Fellowship have influenced him. When asked about gospel influences in his music, he mentioned that Kirk Franklin is one of his favorite artists and his favorite composer.
Bennett's music has been described as versatile and uplifting. His music generally contains jazz-inspired melodies and gospel influences. His lyrics usually have references to Christian theology, his struggles with his faith, and his upbringing. He incorporates choirs into his music to attempt to maximize the gospel undertones. Sharde' Chapman at HuffPost has described Bennett's lyrics as "creative" and "colorful".
He often performs traditional singing songs and has a light-lyric tenor voice with an expansive vocal range which spans three octaves. Bennett's vocal range reaches its extreme low at the bass F_♯_ (F_♯_2), and rises to its peak high at the tenor high F (F5).
Source: wikipedia
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 titled 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.
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).
On October 13, 2015, Bennett released a video for a new song, titled "Family Matters", on his website. The song, which shares the same name as his fall 2015 tour with D.R.A.M., Metro Boomin, Towkio (and Hiatus Kaiyote on select dates), is a rework of the Kanye West song "Family Business" from his 2004 album The College Dropout. A few days before this, a video surfaced online of Bennett performing a new song live, ending the song by saying the words "third mixtape", leading many to believe the wait might be coming to a close for his next release. On October 27, 2015, Bennett premiered a new song, titled "Angels" featuring Saba, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. On December 12, 2015, Bennett performed on Saturday Night Live, on a new song, titled "Somewhere in Paradise", which featured Jeremih and fellow Chicago artist R. Kelly. The song was later pulled from circulation in wake of the airing of the television documentary, Surviving R. Kelly in 2019, which exposed new allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault by Kelly. Bennett expressed his regret of working with Kelly, and apologized with a statement on Twitter.
In 2016, Bennett was a prominent figure on Kanye West's album The Life of Pablo, co-writing and appearing on several tracks, including "Ultralight Beam", "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1", "Famous", "Feedback", and "Waves". According to West, the album's release was delayed due to Bennett's desire for "Waves" to make the album's final cut. Bennett was also featured on a track titled "Need To Know" on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's album This Unruly Mess I've Made. The following March, Bennett was featured on Skrillex's remix of Hundred Waters' "Show Me Love". On April 16, 2016, Bennett and other musicians, including Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, and J. Cole met with President Obama at the White House to discuss the My Brother's Keeper Challenge initiative.
On May 12, 2016, Bennett's third mixtape, Coloring Book (promoted as Chance 3), was released, streaming exclusively on Apple Music. In the first week, the mixtape was streamed over 57.3 million times, which was equivalent to 38,000 units sold, debuting at number eight on the US Billboard 200 chart. It became the first release to chart solely on streams. The mixtape was met with widespread acclaim from music critics, and on review aggregator site Metacritic, received an average score of 89, based on 21 critics, which indicates "universal acclaim". On July 13, at the 2016 ESPY Awards show, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he performed a tribute song titled "I Was A Rock" for the late Muhammad Ali. On August 16, 2016, Chance wrote the single "We the People" paired in a Nike commercial titled "Unlimited Together", a film directed by Hiro Murai. A second commercial was released on October 4, by Nestlé, to promote the Kit Kat bar, with Chance starring in costume remixing their jingle. On September 15, 2016, Chance began his Magnificent Coloring World Tour in San Diego.
Bennett announced the Magnificent Coloring Tour with an event called Magnificent Coloring Day Festival at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field, with a line up including Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Skrillex, Tyler, the Creator and Lil Uzi Vert, taking place on September 24, 2016, being the first-ever music festival at U.S. Cellular Field. This one day festival event also featured a surprise appearance by Kanye West. Bennett launched a campaign in conjunction with rapperradio.com to get his music on the radio on August 17, 2016.
In September 2016, H&M solicited Bennett to headline their new campaign. In November 2016, he continued on the Magnificent Coloring World Tour, but cancelled the rest of his shows on the European leg for personal reasons. In November 2016, Bennett announced during an interview with DJ Semtex that he was working on his debut album. Bennett was offered a chance to sign with Kanye West's GOOD Music in December 2016, though he refused due to his popularity as an independent artist and the freedom of not being attached to a label. In an August interview about his debut album, Bennett said he may sell the album, a departure from his previous projects' free distribution format. After a report was leaked claiming that audio distribution platform SoundCloud was close to bankruptcy and had laid off most of its workers, Bennett had a phone call with SoundCloud CEO Alex Ljung. Following the phone call, Bennett went onto Twitter, posting that SoundCloud is "here to stay". It was later reported that Bennett was just reflecting on what Ljung had previously published in a press release following the leak. Soon after, Bennett released a SoundCloud exclusive track with Young Thug called "Big B's" to benefit the platform, a surprise move that was planned in response to the SoundCloud bankruptcy leak.
In February 2017, Bennett performed at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, receiving 7 nominations and winning 3 Grammys. His performance featured Kirk Franklin and Tamela Mann, along with a gospel choir and orchestra conducted by Tom Brooks. On July 13, Bennett performed a NPR Tiny Desk Concert where he recited an original poem. The poem, titled "The Other Side", was crafted on his ride from his hotel, in Washington, D.C., to the NPR music offices and was written with black marker on typing paper. Chance also performed, "Juke Jam", a song off of his album Coloring Book, and a cover to Stevie Wonder's song "They Won't Go When I Go" released in 1974.
In July 2017, Bennett was nominated for an Emmy Award for his song "Last Christmas" that was performed on Saturday Night Live. He shares the nomination with Kenan Thompson, Eli Brueggemann, and Will Stephen in the category for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. In August 2017, Bennett headlined day three of Lollapalooza at Grant Park in his hometown of Chicago. His performance drew record crowds with some estimates making it the largest attended performance in the event's history. In November 2017, Bennett curated and headlined the Obama Foundation community event at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The event capstoned the inaugural Obama Summit event which featured special guests including former President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Andra Day, Gloria Estefan, Aziz Ansari, Lena Waithe, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more.
In 2018, he featured on "Logout", a song from Saba's album Care for Me and "Best Life" from Cardi B's debut album Invasion of Privacy, and released 4 new songs in July. Bennett performed at Mac Miller: A Celebration of Life on October 31, 2018, a tribute concert in honor of the recently passed Mac Miller. On November 29, 2018, Bennett released 2 new songs, "My Own Thing" and "The Man Who Has Everything", and announced on February 11, 2019, that his debut album would be released sometime in July of that same year. During Super Bowl LII Bennett appeared alongside The Backstreet Boys in a commercial for Doritos with the two artist performing a remix of "I Want it That Way" In May of that year Bennett was featured in Ed Sheeran's song "Cross Me" On July 26, 2019, Bennett released his debut studio album The Big Day.
In 2019, he wrote the song "True Kinda Love" for Steven Universe: The Movie alongside Rebecca Sugar, James Fauntleroy, Macie Stewart, and Julian Sanchez, with vocals being performed by Estelle and Zach Callison. In December 2019, Bennett canceled his "The Big World Tour" for the second time to spend time with his newborn daughter.
In January 2020, it was announced that Bennett will be the host of the reboot of Punk'd that will air on the streaming service Quibi.
In February 2020, Nickelodeon announced that Bennett would be the host of the 2020 Kids' Choice Awards on March 22. The entire show was later scrapped and replaced with a virtual ceremony hosted by Victoria Justice from her home, delayed to May 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with a lack of live musical performances overall due to the circumstances.
In July 2021, Bennett released Magnificent Coloring World, a concert film directed by Jake Schreier documenting a 2016 exclusive-fan performance of the Magnificent Coloring World Tour shot at Cinescape Studios in Chicago. Through his content production company House of Kicks, Bennett signed a trailblazing international distribution agreement with AMC Theatres for the film, marking the first time an individual recording artist has distributed a film through AMC.
In summer 2022, Bennett announced his forthcoming album titled Star Line Gallery and began to release several singles over the next few months including "Child of God", "Wraith" (with Vic Mensa and Smoko Ono), and "The Highs & the Lows" (with Joey Badass).
On October 11, 2022, it was announced that Bennett would be a coach on the 23rd season of The Voice in spring 2023. He didn't return as a coach for the twenty-fourth season in the fall 2023, and was replaced by John Legend, but briefly participated in the season as an advisor. In June 2023, it was announced that Bennett would return to The Voice as a coach for the 25th season in spring 2024. On April 23, 2024, he released the single "Buried Alive", announced that the project was renamed to Star Line, and that it would be released as a mixtape. In the song, he addresses various aspects of his life including his latest divorce, his fallout with his former manager, and criticisms he has faced in recent years. Bennett is scheduled to headline the "And We Back Tour" in 2025 in support of the album. Star Line was released on August 15, 2025.
Bennett has said in interviews with XXL and Complex that Kanye West, James Brown, MC Hammer, Prince, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Esham, Eminem, Souls of Mischief, and Freestyle Fellowship have influenced him. When asked about gospel influences in his music, he mentioned that Kirk Franklin is one of his favorite artists and his favorite composer.
Bennett's music has been described as versatile and uplifting. His music generally contains jazz-inspired melodies and gospel influences. His lyrics usually have references to Christian theology, his struggles with his faith, and his upbringing. He incorporates choirs into his music to attempt to maximize the gospel undertones. Sharde' Chapman at HuffPost has described Bennett's lyrics as "creative" and "colorful".
He often performs traditional singing songs and has a light-lyric tenor voice with an expansive vocal range which spans three octaves. Bennett's vocal range reaches its extreme low at the bass F_♯_ (F_♯_2), and rises to its peak high at the tenor high F (F5).
Source: wikipedia