Chance the Rapper may be just 24 years old, but his name carries serious weight in the city of Chicago. And that's with good reason—Chance is constantly giving back to the city that raised him, whether he's donating millions of dollars to help the city's education system or putting on free concerts to show his hometown love.
He did the latter on Saturday night, transitioning right from being the grand marshal of the annual Bud Billiken parade to the star of a free concert, bringing out special guests Future and Jeremih to top it all off. But there was an even bigger guest who lent his voice for the evening, none other than former President Barack Obama.
Obama has an extensive history with the Chicago parade, having served as the grand marshal himself when he was a U.S. Senator and later as a presidential candidate. After riffing on what the parade means to the area, Obama sent a message of encouragement to Chance, as well as all the young people in the audience looking on.
"Chance, I am grateful for everything you've done on behalf of our young people back home," said Obama. "And I'm hopeful that everyone who is at the concert today, everyone who is getting involved, everybody who has been part of the parade, all of you are in the mindset that you can do anything that you want to do, as long as you put your mind to it."
The Obama family has made it known on several occasions just how much they appreciate Chance's work around Chicago. Former First Lady Michelle Obama was a surprise speaker prior to Chance accepting the Humanitarian Award at the 2017 BET Awards, so they've been keeping a close eye on him for quite some time. Before declaring Jay Z, "the king" during an interview with Sway in the Morning in October 2016, Barack Obama even shouted out Kendrick Lamar and Chance specifically as two rappers doing, "amazing work."
You can watch Obama's touching tribute to Chance above, and you better start getting on your grind if you have dreams of getting your own recognition from a former President any time soon.
