Born in 1993 as Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, Chance the Rapper is young, scrappy, and hungry. The Chicago native was destined for stardom from an early age. With his family involved in politics, he had the opportunity to meet Barack Obama while he was in office. A teenager at the time, Chance told the president he wanted to be a rapper. In response, Obama said just one thing: “word.” Is it any surprise that Chance took this as encouragement and ran with it?

The Beginning of Greatness

Chance got his first real taste of the challenges of the music industry while attending Jones College Prep High School – but not because his teachers encouraged his interest in music. In fact, they ridiculed his dream, which only fueled Chance’s determination. A 10-day suspension gave him the opportunity and inspiration to cut his first mixtape, and 10 Day, when released in 2012, put him on the map locally with more than 500,000 downloads. He was also featured in Forbes magazine for the mixtape.

10 Day was just the tip of the iceberg, though. Chance began participating in high-visibility collabs with hot artists like Childish Gambino, generating major buzz just in time for his next mixtape to drop. Acid Rap, which featured many of Chance’s new connections like Gambino and Action Bronson, went to 63 on the Billboard charts and exposed him to a huge audience, leading him to perform at Lollapalooza. Success on success would follow, and soon Chance the Rapper would become a household name.

Enter the Yeezy

Chance knew he'd made it when Kanye pulled him on board to co-write and perform on Life of Pablo – and you just don’t say no to that. All this attention mounted, and yet Chance the Rapper hadn't even dropped his third mixtape, not to mention a full-length album. Can you imagine where Chance will go from here? There’s only one way to find out!