Chance The Rapper Lifts Up On New Song, Talks Chicago Violence On WBEZ

By Jon Graef in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 24, 2012 5:30PM

Like his fellow rap brethren, Chicago emcee Chance The Rapper garnered tons of local and national attention for his rhymes, especially through his mixtape 10day, a concept album of sorts about his 10 day suspension from high school. As a result, said mixtape received accolades from local blogs like Fake Shore Drive, and Chance has parlayed that success into an upcoming national tour opening for Childish Gambino (A.K.A. Community's Donald Glover).

On the heels of that tour, Chance has been promoting the hell out of a new track called "Lift Up", which samples Dirty Projectors's "Rise Above" (itself a reworking of Black Flag's song of the same name). And as he should be: the song showcases a new, soulful direction for Chance, who worked on the track with a duo called Milo & Otis on their May released album The Joy. Check out Sunday's YouTube leak of the track below:

In other Chance news, he appeared, along with Jessica Hopper, to talk about violence and hip-hop on WBEZ's The Afternoon Shift. Listen to that segment here.