B-Boy On The Ballot! Please. Maybe?

Ebony Sits Down With One of Music’s Big- Gest Stars and Philanthropists to Find Out if His Commitment to Chicago Will Take Him All the Way to Public Office.

- Adrienne Samuels Gibbs

CHANCELOR BENNETT IS NOT one of those stiflingly religious types who answers every question by saying he is “blessed” or starts every sentence with a “hallelujah.” Yet the presence of God is stamped all through his Grammy-winning album, Coloring Book, and his positive spiritual vibration is palpable the moment he hits the stage. The 24-year-old MC is happy he learned to listen to that still, small voice. As a young Black man in the entertainment biz, he could have lost his mind after relocating to Los Angeles to further his career, but the Chi-Town native returned home, where he felt a connection to the divine.

“There are a lot of spaces where you feel like God isn’t around,” he says of his brief time in LA. “I got some vibes. You have to listen and be aware of your discernment, and if somebody tells you to leave? Then get the f**k out of there. You’ll feel it … . You have to just listen to God.”

Discernment, eh? That word seems to describe exactly how Chance the Rapper has gone as far as he has. Despite his deep faith, he’s not a gospel rapper trying to turn mainstream and failing. He’s not even a mainstream rapper looking cheesy by shoehorning a deity into the lyrics. Hell, he won’t even sell his soul, ehem, sign a contract with a record label. Instead, Chance is a music and social activist hybrid who is accepted by die-hard hip-hop heads, lauded by old folks and is even making headway in the rock world. Just ask Eddie Vedder’s daughter. The classic rocker and Pearl Jam alum gave a shout-out to Chance, on behalf of his daughter, at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the spring.