Chance the Rapper Talks His WNBA Fandom & Favorite Sneakers
When it comes to being an innovator, Chance the Rapper has gained a well-earned reputation as a trendsetter. The Grammy Award winning rapper, entrepreneur, and actor has charted his own course to success in the entertainment industry and has created a blueprint that many others have attempted to duplicate.
Whether it's creating music, launching his Black Star Line festival in Ghana, or being one of the WNBA’s biggest fans, Chance is always at the forefront of pushing culture forward. Sports Illustrated caught up with Chance at Meta’s "Super Fan" event in New York City and he spoke about how the Chicago Sky became his favorite team.
Chance said, “Over the past couple of years, I started going to Sky games when Candace Parker came back to Chicago. started making friends with more WNBA players such as Skylar Diggins and Brittney Griner.”
“Eventually, I just started going to a lot of Sky games because they'd be lit so that love for the Sky team introduced me to the rest of the W,” Chance continued. “I'm glad to see it expanding. I love that.”
Chance also shared his views on the impact of Artificial Intelligence and how creators can use it to grow their brands and their knowledge base.
“Accessibility is really important to me. My journey is different from most artists but it's becoming more prevalent, you know, being on the outside and working with a small team at the level that we do isn't super common,” Chance said.
“But the fact that Meta AI has that information already and a kid might ask a question, ”How do I get to where Chance the Rapper is?” And AI could have a conversation or response about how I started at a public library, doing open mics and creating community amongst other creatives.”
“I think that's the coolest thing about the Meta AI is that it's not human but it can give human responses to questions and open a conversation that you can learn from,” he continued.
As a sneaker collector with an expansive collection, Chance ranked his favorite sneakers of all time and had some trouble picking out the kicks at the top of his list
“The Jordan 1s are cool. One of my favorites are a pair of customs I got from Virgil Abloh, rest in peace. I got some customs back when he used to sign them joints so Jordan 1s are important,” he explained. I would say some ice white ones (Air Force Ones) are still very important to this day.
“I'm still a fan of SB’s. SB Dunks are still cool to me,” he continued.”I’m trying to think of what I even wear. Right now, I’m rocking some Moncler’s that I really like. They would probably be some of my favorites that I could think of.”
After dropping several songs including his latest “Stars Out”, Chance said that his highly anticipated LP titled Star Line is almost complete and will be a “visual arts” album that is expected to be available later this summer.
Further Reading: The Air Jordan 1 celebrates Michael Jordan's season with the Birmingham Barons.
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