Chance-mania is in overdrive with Acid Rap just one week away. The press and accolades continue to roll in, as Pitchfork and other outlets are chomping at the bit to speak with the young rapper. This week, however, Chance is covering the Chicago Reader’s b-side with a feature on — what else — Acid Rap.
Chance, aka Chancelor Bennett, turned 20 this month, and his youthful energy gives him a magnetic charisma onstage. Most rappers don’t do much more than pace around, maybe bobbing or jumping at particularly dramatic moments, but Chance keeps up constant frenetic motion—at SXSW he flailed his arms like a push puppet, kicked the air, stomped up and down, threw milk cartons of water into the audience, and busted out a busy, shuffling dance somewhere between footwork and the Charleston. He’s playful and down-to-earth, like a goofy kid next door, and when he switches from rapping to singing his nasal voice becomes oddly sweet.
Just moments after Bennett bounded onstage in Austin, a couple fans up front started screaming for “Juice,” a song he’d released in late January. He worked the crowd nonstop, teaching them how to sing the song’s one-word chorus and leading chants of “Sosa free” to celebrate Chief Keef‘s release from prison that day.
“Juice” is one of four tunes Bennett has released so far from his second mixtape, Acid Rap, which drops Tue 4/30 (the others are “Good Ass Intro,” “Acid Rain,” and “NaNa“). He’s been promotingAcid Rap for months—his efforts began in earnest with a headlining gig at Metro in November—and plenty of folks at the Fake Shore Drive showcase clearly knew the new material already. “People were just so invested in his set,” says Fake Shore founder Andrew Barber. “I was walking around to the VIP area, where usually people aren’t paying any attention—they’re talking, they’re drinking—and everybody’s like, ‘Who’s this kid?'”
Check out the whole feature right here.