5 Current Rappers To Watch (And 5 To Forget)

4. Worthy Of Your Attention: Chance The Rapper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWZBchgVSvc Very much the name to know right now, this Chicago youngster has been popping up all over the place since his second mixtape Acid Rap burned a hole right through the internet. It's not the first we've heard from the kid, but this smooth, introspective album is bound to prove the catalyst to greatness. It's an album clearly comfortable with being uncomfortable at times, spiralling knowingly into awkward melodies sometimes, other times keeping things relaxed and soulful, slicing samples into foamy rhythms while he lays a syrupy flow across the beat. Barely out of his teens, Chancelor Bennett shows signs of a wise spirit, a maturity and lyrical intelligence usually reserved for the masters - the likes of Black Thought and Talib Kweli - but young enough to not be hogtied by expectations or a reputation to live up to. He delivers a gentle, playful style with a sometimes cartoonish voice, but the genius comes from the unexpectedly thought-provoking phrasing hidden in the cheerful corners like lumps of the darkest coal. Chance's expressive wordplay weaves smoothly over vibrant beats, his subject matter drifting between razor-sharp insight and light-hearted puns and throw-away metaphors. There's no gangster swagger here - for that we look to the ominous and arrogant A$AP Rocky right now - instead he's the inward-looking voice, a shrewd poet that deserves your attention.