Chance The Rapper on the Making of His New Album, Festival in Ghana and Changing Hip-Hop

Chance The Rapper is turning a new page. Ten years ago, the Chicago native came into the rap game and has since become a maverick in the world of independence with a string of classic projects like 10 Day, Acid Rap and Coloring Book, among others, to soundtrack it all. The entire world has watched the Grammy award-winning wordsmith take his talents from the depths of SoundCloud to the history books of hip-hop in an unparalleled manner. Even with a résumé real enough for two millennia, the 29-year-old rapper isn’t quite done fulfilling his legacy. The next chapter of Chance’s career was shaped by a trip to Ghana last January with his Chicago brethren and fellow artist Vic Mensa, who also has roots in Ghana. There, the two members of the SaveMoney rap collective visited locations like Labadi Beach, Elmina Castle and the mausoleum of Kwame Nkrumah, who was the first president of the country. Those eye-opening experiences stimulated Chance to revive the dream of famed early 20th-century activist Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line shipping company in the 1920s, which connected the dots between the Americas and West Africa. Actualization of that is soon to come in two forms. One being Chance and Vic’s Black Star Line Festival, which will take place on Jan. 6, 2023, in Accra, Ghana, and will consist of panels, brunches and a free concert, among other initiatives at the hands of Black joy. The second is Chance’s next album, Star Line Gallery, slated to arrive in 2023. With these next endeavors, he hopes to inch his people closer to liberation, all while building on a sound and brand that has turned him into a household name.