Chance the Rapper is arguably one of the hip hop's biggest stars and promising voices. Since garnering the attention off of Acid Rap the 24-year-old rapper has been paving his own way as an independent artist, breaking industry molds and giving back. While not only doing things his own way, he's been able to put himself in a position where he uses his platform to not only benefit himself and the ones around him but the community at large. While Fortune's "40 Under 40" celebrates some of the most influential young people in the business, Chance the Rapper has made his way on the list for the first time, ranking at #29.
Chance's debut makes him the youngest person thus far to be on the list as a whole. Fortune says that Chance's business acumen as well as his non-conventional approach to the music industry makes his one of the most influential young people of the year. Chance has byfar been one of the most successful independent hip hop acts in the industry. With his mixtape Coloring Book, Chance made a deal with Apple, letting them have exclusive streaming rights to the tape when it debuted. That deal landed the Chicago rapper $500K. The mixtape later went on to be the first streaming-only record to receive a Grammy.
Alongside his musical accomplishments, they also noted that he's received endorsements from Nike, Nestle, as well as his Twitter.
The list also includes Kevin Hart and Serena Williams. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron leads the list as number one and is followed by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. It also makes Chance the only rapper and musician on this years list. Previous years have included Taylor Swift and Jessica Alba as well.
It's definitely a good look and a well-deserved credit that Chance received. Earlier this year, he received the "Humanitarian Award" at the BET Awards and recently, he donated over 30 thousand backpacks to school kids.
While there's no confirmation on whether a new album is on the way or not, Chance is definitely using his time to give back to the community.
