Chance the Rapper teases new album ‘Star Line' in surprise Lollapalooza set
'I just wanna see y'all mosh,' he said as he introduced a song off his new album, sharp synths and dark piano chords blasting across the crowd. 'I don't know if y'all know this, but just to the people watching at home, Chicago invented moshing. We really do this festival (expletive).'
Chance played Lollapalooza in 2016 following the release of his album 'Coloring Book' and has come back for a guest appearance almost every year since. Artists like Renee Rapp, Joey Bada$$ and Peter CottonTale have brought the prolific rapper onstage in the past three years. He usually only performs one song, his 2016 hit 'No Problem'.
After performing his first solo set at the festival in nearly nine years, Chance told the Tribune that it brings 'a different level of enticement.'
'Being at Lolla is like a release for me,' he said. 'When you're a rapper, you're several different kinds of artists — you're a writer, but you're also a recording artist, a performing artist. There's a lot of different mediums that you plug into creatively to get out that idea, and I think performing is one of my favorite parts of being a rapper.'
Opening with classic songs like 'Cocoa Butter Kisses' and 'All Night,' Chance also used his 15-minute set to build hype for 'Star Line,' his first album in six years. The two songs he played off the album were a marked shift from the vibe of his older music, bringing out a more introspective, emotional side and giving fans a deeper look at his songwriting abilities.
'It's very focused on unpacking different observations of mine, or experiences of mine,' he said. 'Some of them are very inwardly vulnerable or critical, and some of them are very outwardly analytical. I think a lot of people are going to resonate with the words of the album.'
Along with an unreleased track, Chance also played 'Tree,' his first single off of 'Star Line' featuring Lil Wayne and Smino. In the song, he pays homage to the comfort and community of marijuana and reflects on how growing regulation of the cannabis industry can imperil people of color, who are often targeted by the police for using marijuana at higher rates.
'She told me 'Son, don't worry, don't you have no shame / There's gonna be frustration in this white man's game / And they're gonna have us tied up once it's legalized,'' he rapped.
After years of performing at Lollapalooza, Chance (aka Chancelor Bennett) said he looks forward every year to hanging out backstage and meeting artists he admires. Following his Saturday set, he said he was on his way to catch breakout star Doechii and indie rocker Mk.gee.
But the lifelong Chicagoan said being back in Grant Park brings back another memory — getting his start in high school at an after-school open mic program, based a few blocks away on Harrison Street.
'We'd all be packed into this library space downtown, and some kids were rapping, some kids were doing poetry, standup, dancing, just talking — and it was deep,' he said. 'We learned a lot about how to engage with our peers and our crowd, both as equals and as people we want to entertain.'
Lollapalooza 2025: For Saturday, a K-pop sing-along and a set by Winnetka Bowling League
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