Watch Chance The Rapper Celebrate Historic Grammy Noms At The Metro

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 7, 2016 4:27PM

Chance the Rapper performing at Magnificent Coloring Day / Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

As everyone in Chicago already knows, Chance the Rapper is having a banner year. On Tuesday, the Grammys took note, too: Chance made history when, along with Kanye's The Life of Pablo, his great album Coloring Book became the first streaming-only album to be nominated. Just as impressive, Chance racked up seven total nominations. And on Tuesday night, he carved out some time to celebrate in front of his hometown crowd.

Chance threw a Red Carpet party at The Metro with fellow artists and music industry professionals. Even though it was his time to shine in the spotlight, he remained characteristically thankful and earnest, as seen in the video below, taken by Fake Shore Drive's Andrew Barber.

“Tonight we won, because I got nominated for a Grammy. And I don’t plan on waiting until February to figure out if I won or lost," Chance said. "I decided tonight that because I’m surrounded by my best friends, by my family, that tonight was the winning night and I wanted to celebrate with you guys here in Chicago.”

“If I do win any Grammy’s on that night, I promise that when I get on the stage, I’m gonna say ‘Glory be to God, I claim the victory in the name of the Lord,'" he added. "And if I don’t win at least I got to say it right now."

Most notably, Chance is up for Best New Artist. He also got nods for Best Rap Performance (“No Problem”), Best Rap/Sung Performance (“Ultralight Beam”), Best Rap Song (“No Problem” & “Ultralight Beam”) and Best Rap Album (Coloring Book). Only Beyonce (nine nominations) and Kanye West, Rihanna and Drake (eight nominations each) received more nods.

In June, the Grammys—long so far behind the times, now clearly making strong moves to catch up—rewrote the awards eligibility requirements to allow streaming-only releases.

[H/T Fake Shore Drive]