Chance the Rapper had a famously rocky relationship with school. His breakout mixtape, 10 Day, was written and recorded after he was suspended for marijuana possession as a high school senior in Chicago. “I'm never going back to school, been there, done that,” he rapped on the standout song “Prom Night.”
Ironically, Chance is now one of Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) most famous and ardent champions. His nonprofit SocialWorks has moved $5.6 million to 56 CPS schools to help renovate classrooms, purchase equipment, and fund arts education. Overall, the organization has invested $12 million into Chicago communities. Chance understands why some kids rebel. But he’s also seen how the right resources, mentorship and support systems can put all types of students on pathways to success.
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“I had teachers that I felt like were antagonistic towards me, and a lot of that gets vented on in my first project,” Chance tells TIME. “But I also had a lot of teachers that were big advocates for me and kept me from getting kicked out. And those are the ones that organized the teachers’ labor union and mobilized the teachers to strike for better facilities and more resources.”
One of SocialWorks’ first big funding projects was to help increase teacher staffing at schools. The organization has since sought to help students with a variety of interests and needs find their place in the classroom. Five $100,000 grants to Chicago public schools included support for vocational programs serving aspiring barbers and carpenters. “I think there's a certain confidence and enthusiasm that I see in kids when they get to do stuff that they actually like or are interested in,” Chance says. “Especially when it's paired with the idea of creating your own business.”
Chance says he was placed in special education classes in grade school, which contributed to his struggles with anxiety. “It was an identifier that was placed on me that made me misunderstand myself for a long time,” he says. SocialWorks has programs for special education, mental health, and also afterschool programs designed to spur kids into creative expression.
Meanwhile, Chance frequently performs at benefit concerts and meet-and-greets. Last year, he won a celebrity episode of Wheel of Fortune, netting $140,000 for his nonprofit’s Warmest Winter initiative, which gives coats to the homeless. He views his music and activism as inextricably linked parts of his mission. Sometimes, he raps to his listeners as if he were their mentor: “You better use your pen, baby, use your heart, child / Where's your viewpoint? Where's your art style?” he raps on 2025’s “Star Side Intro.”
“I think that there's a specific responsibility within my genre and my culture to inform and mobilize our people towards our betterment and towards equity,” Chance says. “And if you're given a platform and a space to create the change that you know needs to be there, that's an integral part of being what I consider to be a good artist.”
