*Chance the Rapper is considering a major change to the name he has performed under for more than 15 years. The 33-year-old says he might drop “Chance” and go by “The Rapper.”
He opened up about the idea during a visit to the “Tea Time” podcast with hosts Raven-Symoné and Miranda Maday. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot,” he said, according to Billboard. “I just really love the art form. I really love words.”
The artist, born Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, believes language sits at the core of great rap. “I think the greatest rappers, like myself, are etymologists and linguists at heart, people that really just love language,” he explained.
For Chance, the “Chance” side of his work means putting his private life on display. His catalog includes “Sunday Candy,” about his grandmother’s surgery, and “I Love You So Much,” about becoming a father for the first time. He has also written about past traumas.
Scroll to continue reading
He now feels differently about that kind of exposure. “I give a lot of vulnerability and looks into my life and what’s going on in my life, relationships, just my whole self sometimes and I don’t love that as much now as I love just working within the genre,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s good to make a song that’s not about what I did that day,” he added.
Chance did not create the name himself. “I think when I first got it, it was just a name that a girl I went to high school with came up with,” he said.
“I think over time, yes, people would tell me, ‘Yo, you should drop the ‘rapper’ part out of your name because you’re more than rap,'” he explained.
He held on to the full name because he wanted his work tied to hip-hop. “I want to carry rap the same way that rap has carried me through life,” he said.
Chance named André 3000, Kanye West, Eminem and Mos Def among his favorite MCs known for opening up in their music. Still, he frames the possible switch as a way to go further into hip-hop, not leave it behind.
Interestingly, his unusual stage name once caught Dionne Warwick’s attention. As EURweb reported, the legendary singer questioned why he included his profession in his name, sparking an exchange that eventually led to a friendship.
Watch Chance the Rapper’s podcast conversation below.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Druski’s ‘That’s So Zion’ Skit Roasts the Wild Side of Former Child Stars
Sign up for our Free daily newsletter HERE
