CHICAGO — Could Chance The Rapper become Chance The Mayor?
With a website chano4mayor.com — and a dedicated Twitter account @chano4mayor2k19 — pushing the the Grammy Award-winning rapper from Chatham to run, another rap superstar has added his voice to the chorus.
In response to questions shouted by paparazzi outside a Los Angeles club Tuesday night, Drake emphatically answered in the affirmative when asked if Chance — aka "Lil Chano from 79th" —would make a good mayor of Chicago.
Chance — who announced a new $2.2 million fund Friday to save programs at Chicago schools hardest hit by budget cuts — publicly thanked the "Hotline Bling" star on Twitter.
Thank you @Drake https://t.co/h6VWujUOrc
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) April 5, 2017
Politics have long been on the mind of the rapper, whose real name is Chance Bennett. Chance's father once worked for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is expected to decide this summer whether to run for a third term in 2019.
In his 2015 song “Somewhere in Paradise,” Chance seemed to have thought about it, at least in passing: “They say I’m savin’ my city, say I’m stayin’ for good. They screamin’ Chano for mayor, I’m thinkin’ maybe I should.”
Bea Malsky, 23, a Chicago game designer and writer who helped launch the website and petition told the Sun-Times that she hoped the musician would run.
The 23-year-old Chance is qualified to run for mayor of Chicago — he's a resident of the city, is older than 18 and is registered to vote in the 17th Ward. Assuming he does not owe the city money, he is good to toss one of his famous baseball hats in the ring.
Chance's political profile skyrocketed after he met in March with Gov. Bruce Rauner and urged Rauner to end the budget crisis engulfing the Chicago Public Schools.
When that meeting ended with no solution, Chance publicly urged the governor to “take our kids off the table” and do his job.
Chance's comments delighted Emanuel, who praised him for "exposing" Rauner as a fraud — setting off another round of name calling with the governor's staff.
Chance's response, delivered via Twitter, naturally: "this whole f------ thing is embarassing."
