The 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend will be held on February 16, in Chicago. It’s a no-brainer then, that local artists will play during the performance, such as Common, Taylor Bennett and one that strongly resonated with the organizers: Chance The Rapper. It strongly resonated in the United States at least, since this rapper is much less known in foreign countries than those who managed to escape borders limitations. We know Kanye West. Kendrick Lamar too. We know Jay-Z. And Tyler, The Creator. Why is it, then, that we ignore Chance The Rapper's existence?
CHANCE THE RAPPER IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Chance The Rapper has just been confirmed as the main lead of the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend’s great performance... And that's the perfect excuse to wonder why is this artist is so popular in the United States but not in foreign lands.
Even when his name is often mentioned along with the artists mentioned above...? As a matter of fact, Chancelor Bennett is backed by almost a decade of career made up of truly historic moments, both lived solo or as part of the SaveMoney collective, which also includes his friend Vic Mensa. Born in the West Chatham neighborhood and grown up idolizing Michael Jackson (like, basically, anyone who grew up in the last decades of the last century), Chance debuted in 2012 with 10 Day, a recorded mixtape inspired by a 10-day school expulsion. That series of songs was enough to make Childish Gambino (i.e. Donald Glover's musical project) decide to take him on tour as the opening act.
And even though most record companies were trying to get a piece of him in 2013, the artist preferred to spend several years collaborating (side by side) with the biggest industry names: he produced, together with Justin Bieber, the successful Confident, but he also approached other artists such as Madonna, Action Bronson, Snakehips and Kanye West. A series of enriching experiences that led him to his first historical result: Chance The Rapper is the first artist to win a Grammy for best rap album, with a mixtape that hadn’t even been sold physically but could only be listened to through the usual streaming services.
The winning album was Coloring Book, still considered Chancelor's best work to this day, no matter how dangerously close to it is his latest album The Big Day, released this year. Both are perfect examples of the rapper's ability to invent rhymes in which he pours out his thoughts on life and Christian faith... Because Kanye wasn't the first one to be obsessed with Christianity and, in fact, Chance The Rapper's latest album is a bright narrative of his wedding day. Because, in the end, marriage is not only a bride's happiest day. It's the groom's too.