Chance the Rapper is one of the most successful rappers of all time. He has won three Grammys, and is one of the highest-paid hip-hop artists of our time. His biography explored below.
Currently, Chance the Rapper is the newest coach on The Voice! Chance joins fellow newcomer Niall Horn as well as seasoned coach and one of America’s favorite voices, Kelly Clarkson, and the OG coach Blake Shelton.
Chance skyrocketed to fame about 10 years ago when his EP, “Acid Rap,” gained massive traction.
In 2017, Chance the Rapper was named the fifth highest earning rapper by Forbes. Today, the star’s net worth would make anyone’s jaw drop. And yet, the “Coloring Book” mastermind did not release a true album for sale until 2019.
There are more to learn more about Chance the Rapper, how he has realized so much success in just over a decade, his family, personal life and . TheVibely has gathered 10 interesting things about the rapper, including but not limited to his net worth, fun fact, how he is closely affiliated with former president Barack Obama, and more.
Profile Summary
| Celebrated Name: | Chance the Rapper |
| Net Worth: | $25 million |
| Salary: | $8 million as The Voice coach |
| Profession: | Recording artist, Rapper, singer, songwriter |
| Full Real Name: | Chancelor Johnathan Bennett |
| Birthday: | April 16, 1993 |
| Age: | 29 years old (as of 2022) |
| Birthplace: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Ethnicity: | Ghanaian-American |
| Current Residence: | Chicago |
| Education: | Jones College Prep High School |
| Religion: | Christian |
| Zodiac Sign: | Aries |
| Height: | 1.78m tall that is 5’10” feet tall |
| Weight: | 77 kg (170 lbs) |
| Siblings: | Taylor Bennett (brother) |
| Father: | Ken Williams-Bennett |
| Mother: | Lisa Bennett |
| Marriages: | Kirsten Corley (m. 2019) |
| Children: | Kensli and Marli |
1. Who is Chance the Rapper?
Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Chance has been releasing music since 2013 when he first dropped his debut mixtape. He started his musical career with the release of his mixtape “10 Day” in 2012, and began to gain to mainstream recognition in 2013 as a result his “Acid Rap” mixtape release.
He started garnering worldwide attention from mainstream music listeners, and in 2017 his album “Coloring Book” won a Grammy for Best Rap Album and he also won the coveted Best New Artist award.
Chance the Rapper became a household name, and his fan base was at an all-time high. However, as seasons passed, Chance began to disassociate himself with his music in an effort to spend more time with his family.
What is Chance the Rapper doing now? The rapper has joined the coaches of The Voice season 23. Joining veteran judges Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton — the latter of whom is leaving the show after this season — is rapper Chance the Rapper and former One Direction member Niall Horan.
2. How old is Chanec the Rapper?
Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, known professionally as Chance the Rapper was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States. What is Chance the Rapper’s age? He was born on April 16, 1993 putting his age at 29 years old.
Chance The Rapper has an approximate height of 1.78m tall that is 6’0” feet tall. His weight is around 77 kg (170 lbs), has body measurements of 40-34-14 inches.
The rapper’s birth sign is Aries.
3. What is Chance the Rapper’s ethnicity?
Chance is of Ghanaian descent, just like his close friend and fellow rapper Vic Mensa, and the duo made a series of trips to their homeland Ghana earlier this year. During one of those trips, a special idea was born: their very first event on the African continent. Called the Black Star Line Festival, it will be the first edition of an annual art and music festival the rappers plans on holding across the world.
The inaugural event will be held on January 6th, 2023, in the capital city of Accra, Ghana. So far Chance and Vic have announced Erykah Badu, T-Pain, Jeremih, Tobe Nwigwe, Sarkodie, M.anifest, the Asakaa Boys, and of course themselves as headliners. To top it all off, it’s a free event.
4. Who are Chance the Rapper’s parents?
Chance is from a well-to-do family and grew up in the middle-class neighborhood of West Chatham on Chicago’s South Side. He was born to his father, Ken Williams-Bennett who was an aide to the late Chicago mayor Harold Washington and then-Senator Barack Obama, and his mother, Lisa Bennett, who worked for the Illinois Attorney General.
Bennett attended Jones College Prep High School where he was a member of the Jewish Student Union.
Bennett lives in his hometown Chicago. He once shared a house in North Hollywood with James Blake. Describing his time in North Hollywood, Bennett called it “ungodly”. After graduating from high school, Bennett attended a community college for a week before dropping out. Bennett has taken numerous recreational drugs during his lifetime, including LSD and Xanax, but has since stepped away from them.
5. Does Chance the Rapper have siblings?
Chance is not an only child – he has a sibling. His younger brother, Taylor Bennett, is also a rapper. Both brothers began rapping at the same time and have a similar style. Both the rappers also draw inspiration from fellow Chicago native Kanye West.
6. Is Chance the Rapper a Christian?
Chance has been very vocal about his relationship with God and even identifies himself as a “Christian rapper.” In an interview for Teen Vogue after his album “Coloring Book” came out, Chance spoke about infusing his faith into the album. Chance confided that, “I don’t make Christian rap, but I am a Christian rapper. When I was going out and trying to fully give glory to God, in my setting, I feared that people would be dismissive of it, like, ‘This is Christian rap, I’m not trying to hear it.'”
Despite the fear that Chance had, he said, “People were very accepting of it. Whether they say, ‘I’m an atheist, but I love Coloring Book‘ or they say, ‘I’m so glad I was able to get closer to God through this project,’ people had formed opinions about what I put into the world. I think that’s always the goal of art.”
In addition to his music, Chance also takes to his social media to spread the word of God. In a tweet that he also put on his Instagram celebrating Easter, Chance said, “‘The wages of sin are death.’ That heavy knowledge right there! All of us are born into sin, BUT the son of God lived a completely sinless life, won the victory over Satan in the garden, and STILL experienced death on the cross. All for us. Tmw I celebrate His victory over death.”
Chance even went on a “sabbatical” to learn more about his religion.
Back in late 2018, Chance decided to take a step back from his career in order to learn more about the word of God. In an Instagram post, Chance announced that, “I’m on a plane headed out the country on my first sabbatical. I’m going away to learn the word of God which I am admittedly very unfamiliar with. I’ve been brought up by my family to know Christ but I haven’t taken it upon myself to really just take a couple days and read my Bible.”
Chance explained, “We all quote scripture and tell each other what God likes and doesn’t like but how much time do we spend as followers of Jesus to really just read and KNOW his Word. I’m definitely guilty of not devoting time to it. So I’m off to read and learn because the next generation of Bennett is here and I need to be able to give my nephew Charlie Matthew the knowledge and tools.”
SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES
7. Who is Chance the Rapper married to? Meet his wife, Kirsten Corley!
Chance and Kirsten’s years-long love story began when they were kids.
In a 2019 Twitter thread, Chance revealed that he was only 9 years old when he first “locked eyes” with Kirsten, who he described as “the prettiest girl” he had ever seen. After watching his one-day wife and her friends perform their rendition of a classic Destiny’s Child song at a party, Chance, who was a dancer himself, was smitten.
However, he didn’t introduce himself at the time. “This wasn’t the time or the place,” he tweeted. “Not just because it wasn’t my party, not because it was their moment to dance, not even ’cause I was nervous about dancing in front of folks.”
“It’s ’cause I knew I was gonna marry that girl and I ain’t wanna jump the gun,” he continued.
They eventually found their way back to one another at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, in 2012. Upon returning to Chicago, they struck up a romance. The two finally made things official in 2013, exactly 10 years after their first encounter.
In 2016, three years into their relationship, the couple put their romance on pause; however, the high school sweethearts reconciled months later.
Chance popped the question in 2018 at a backyard BBQ and the two married in 2019 at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, Calif.
During their relationship, Chance and Kirsten have welcomed two children together — Kensli and Marli.
8. Chance the Rapper and Kirsten Corley have two kids!
One year before Chance and Kirsten temporarily split up in 2016, they welcomed their eldest daughter, Kensli. Their second daughter, Marli, was born right before he kicked off his 2019 tour. As a result, he postponed tour dates to focus on his family.
“I thought it over for the past week and I’ve decided to push back my tour,” Chance captioned a photo of him and his daughters on Instagram at the time.
“When Kensli was born, I went on tour two weeks later and missed some of the most important milestones in her life,” his post continued. “But more importantly I was absent when her mother needed me the most,” he added. “At this point as a husband and father of two, I realize that I can’t make that mistake again.”
Well, what do ya know! Chance the Father has a pretty cool ring to it.
9. What does the “3” on Chance’s hat mean?
The “3” hat seems ambiguous, but it makes total sense when you think about it. According to High Snobiety, Chance wanted to create a new hat for his 2016 mixtape, “Coloring Book.” Initially, he had some trouble deciding on the best typography, and the original title for the album was going to be “The Magnificent Coloring Book,” which would have been quite long, especially on the front of a hat.
After mulling it over, Chance came up with an idea. The 2016 masterpiece, “Coloring Book,” was going to be his third-ever mixtape. So, instead of attempting to put all of the copy on a small baseball cap, he thought it would be more concise — and just as logical — to simply put a “3” on the hat, and make it available in a variety of different colors.
He also says it became part of his brand because he associates it with the Holy Trinity, and his family of three (which has since become four!).
Why didn’t Chance release a “4” cap for “The Big Day”?
In a 2018 interview on The Joe Budden Podcast, Chance was asked if he would change the design for “The Big Day,” which hadn’t come out yet, and he made it pretty clear he was planning to stick with his signature “3” hat.
According to Sirr Waka, when asked what would happen when 4 comes, and if he was going to switch to a 4 hat, he flat-out said “no.” The interviewer responded, “We just stay with the 3?” and Chance responded “yeah.”
Strangely enough, though, in Into The Spiderverse, Miles Morales had a poster hanging in his room, which largely resembles Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book” album art. However, in the poster, Chance is wearing a “4” hat. This was apparently supposed to imply that in Miles’ dimension, Chance didn’t create the logo until his fourth album, which is a fun and strange nod to Chance’s many fans.
Chance’s “3” hat is iconic, and it’s definitely not going away anytime soon. It will always be a pivotal part of the rapper’s image.
SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES
10. Chance the Rapper began building his impressive net worth in 2011.
Today, Chance the Rapper has collaborated with the likes of Justin Bieber, SZA, Kanye West, and Cardi B. But once upon a time, the rapper, who was born Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, was a high school student with big dreams. It was actually in high school in 2011 when the one-day huge star started working on his first mixtape, “Day 10.”
More mixtapes would follow, and by 2016 with the release of “Coloring Book,” we all knew his name. Backing up a hot minute, the rapper’s father, Ken Williams-Bennett, was previously an aide to then-Senator Barack Obama in Illinois.
And so, Chance the Rapper actually had the eventual two-term president’s support from a young age, with the Democrat reportedly saying “word,” when the young musician shared his aspirations to become a rapper — who is now worth $25 million.
How does Chance The Rapper make his money
In 2017 alone, Chance the Rapper earned $33 million — but he didn’t believe in selling his music. “I thought putting a price on it put a limit on it and inhibited me from making a connection,” he told Vanity Fair in 2017.
“I realized my strength was being able to offer my best work to people without any limit on it,” he also stated, going on to explain, because yes, we were wondering, “I make money from touring and selling merchandise.”
In 2019, Chance the Rappers sold his first album, a decision that was met with criticism given his earlier stance on free music.
How much does Chance the Rapper get paid as The Voice coach?
In any event, today, the star’s huge net worth is also the product of successful partnerships with retailers like H&M, and huge TV properties such as The Voice. About joining the show in 2023, Chance the Rapper said on the Today show, “I feel like the other coaches were so welcoming.”
He added that his main goal on The Voice is to help young artists show the world who they truly are. “I want to give people the opportunity to show their identity, to tell their story through song,” he explained.
It probably doesn’t hurt that Chance the Rapper is reportedly earning $8 million to help aspiring artists reveal who they are on the 2023 season of The Voice.
