Chancellor “Chance the Rapper” Bennett

Chicago’s biggest emcee since Kanye, Chance has been on fire lately. He released his first-ever free album on iTunes (the critically worshiped Surf , with bandmate Donnie Trumpet), headlined Pitchfork, and became the first-ever unsigned act to perform on Saturday Night Live. All the while, he used his platform (1.3 million Twitter followers and counting) to rail against everything from gun violence to Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq (“You’ve never watched someone die here,” he tweeted). And he upped his youth outreach tenfold, hosting free open-mic nights for high schoolers, a teens-only music festival, and even CPS field trips. In short, when Chance raps, a generation listens.