Chance the Rapper Shares What’s at the Top of His Career Bucket List as He Celebrates 10 Years of “Coloring Book” (Exclusive)
Chance the Rapper Shares What’s at the Top of His Career Bucket List as He Celebrates 10 Years of “Coloring Book” (Exclusive)
Alexandra SchonfeldFri, August 7, 2026 at 10:55 PM UTC
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Chance the Rapper in 2016; Chance the Rapper in 2026.Credit: Frank Hoensch/Redferns; Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan via Getty -
Chance the Rapper is celebrating 10 years of his Grammy-winning album Coloring Book
As part of the milestone, Chance is hitting the road for the Coloring Book Ten Year Anniversary Tourwhich kicks off on Aug. 8 in Chicago
In reflecting on the success of the album, Chance opened up to PEOPLE about what he’s yet to accomplish
As Chance the Rapper reflects on the success of the last decade of his career, he’s also looking ahead to what he’s yet to accomplish.
Ahead of kicking off his Coloring Book Ten Year Anniversary Tour on Saturday, Aug. 8 — celebrating the milestone for his Grammy-winning album — the 33-year-old rapper, born Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, sat down with PEOPLE to chat about the record-breaking project and what fans can expect on the upcoming tour.
In 2017, Chance became the first streaming-only artist to be nominated for and subsequently take home a Grammy. He won not just one but three awards for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album.
“I always used to watch the Grammys with my mom on Sundays every year and watch the performances,” Chance tells PEOPLE. “So not even just to win a Grammy but to perform at the Grammys was a really big deal for me.”
Chance the Rapper accepting the award for Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards in February 2017.Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty
“There’s a calm in knowing that you did something that was awarded,” he later adds. “You know what I mean? We’re rewarded in a bunch of ways but specific accolades and trophies and stuff like that — they are cool. It’s cool to be like, ‘That s--- don’t matter.’ But it is also cool to get them... I don’t want to not get nominated for a Grammy but it was just a thing when I was younger that I wanted to prove for so long, that once I did it there’s just this moment of, ‘Okay. Well, what do I do next?’”
Since Coloring Book, Chance released The Big Day in 2019— his official debut studio album— followed by Star Line in 2025. He says looking back on the 10-year-old project through rehearsal, he’s able to see the music — and its meaning— in a new light.
“I was 23 when I made the project — I just had my first kid so I was just finding out what fatherhood was,” Chance, who shares daughters Kensli, 10, and Marli, 7, with ex-wife Kirsten Corley, says. “…I obviously grew up Christian but... it’s not really the same when you’re a kid as exploring faith on your own as a young adult. There’s so many different themes in the project but I think one of the main ones is — when I wrote [the song “Same Drugs”] it was about linking up with somebody who was growing, who’s maturing faster than me, seeing somebody who I used to be with and finding out that they don’t live the same life that we lived.”
“Now, things change consistently,” he continues. “I’m not the same as I used to be and nothing — especially relationships, but nothing really stays the same. It’s deep doing that song. I love it. It’s been fun the past couple of years. It’s been a staple in my set forever, but just revisiting it in the context of listening to all the songs is kind of wild.”
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Chance the Rapper performing on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ on Aug. 3, 2026.Credit: Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty
Chance says he doesn’t plan to skip any of the album’s 14 tracks on his upcoming tour and might even perform some new music.
Amid his busy schedule making music and performing, Chance has spent a lot of his time giving back, specifically to his hometown of Chicago. The same year he put out Coloring Book, Chance founded SocialWorks, a non-profit that helps support Chicago’s youth. To date, the organization has reached more than 50,000 students in the area and contributed $12M, per their site.
Looking beyond the tour, which wraps on Oct. 11, Chance says he has a few things he’d like to check off of his professional bucket list.
“I would love to play the Super Bowl before I get up out of here,” he says. “That’s always been a goal since I was a kid. I would love to learn or to master an instrument. I’m just a novice at random things from high school, but I would love to expand my creativity and being able to actually play guitar, actually play piano.”
“Oh, and doing a tour of Africa,” he concludes, just a day after returning from a trip with his daughters to Kenya. “Those are my top three right there.”
But between all the accolades and trophies, the career accomplishment Chance is most proud of is the one he continues to live out each day.
“It’s the ability to wake up and do it and to be uncomfortable and be myself consistently. That’s what I’m proud of and that’s what allows me to keep going. It’s like — I did make it another day, I did show up as myself, but I did also show up for people and I recognize my responsibility but also my humanity,” he says. “And when I can move with that, then I feel proud.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
