Chance the Rapper (born Chancelor Bennett in Chicago in 1993) is an American rapper who built his career entirely outside the major-label system. Coloring Book (2016) — gospel choirs, live horns, pure Chicago — was the first streaming-only album to win the Best Rap Album Grammy; Acid Rap (2013) is the other essential. Browse Chance the Rapper vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 16, 1993. He has built his career deliberately outside the major-label system, releasing 10 Day (2012), Acid Rap (2013), and Coloring Book (2016) as free mixtapes that nonetheless achieved mainstream and critical success. Coloring Book (2016) was the first streaming-only album to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2017. He has worked with collaborators including the Social Experiment band, Donnie Trumpet, Kanye West, Childish Gambino, and many others.
Chance the Rapper's sound combines hip hop, contemporary gospel, soul, jazz rap, and Chicago hip hop traditions with live instrumentation, choir-led arrangements, and Bennett's distinctive vocal delivery that incorporates singing alongside rapping. His Coloring Book (2016) is widely regarded as a defining gospel rap and gospel hip hop crossover work.
Physical vinyl pressings of Chance the Rapper's catalog have been issued through Vinyl Me, Please and other limited-pressing distributors, with Acid Rap and Coloring Book receiving collector attention.
Listeners new to Chance the Rapper typically start with Coloring Book (2016) or Acid Rap (2013).
