Chance The Rapper Announces ‘Chance 3’ And Performs ‘Blessings’ On ‘Jimmy Fallon’

As previously reported here on the Inquisitr, Chance the Rapper released his first mixtape, 10 Day, in April 2012. Distributed through DatPiff, a mixtape-hosting website, 10 Day was offered for free consumption; because of its free offering, the mixtape was streamed over 300,000 times, and downloaded over 400,000 times. Sadly, as popular as the mixtape was, Chance’s career didn’t launch into stardom. (Not yet, at least.) Though the mixtape grabbed the attention of sites like Complex and Forbes, Chance (real name Chancelor Bennett) still saw himself in Chicago, preparing another project.

Acid Rap, Chance’s breakout project released a year after 10 Day, saw Chance’s career go from 0 to 100 real quick. Distributed again through DatPiff for free, the project was downloaded over 1,000,000 times, and was awarded a “certified diamond” rating on the music hosting site. In addition to the diamond rating, Acid Rap received high praise from sites like Pitchfork, Billboard, SPIN Magazine, and the like. It was also nominated for Best Mixtape at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2013, ranked 26 on Rolling Stone‘s list of “50 Best Albums of 2013” (even though it is a mixtape, not an album), and was the second most downloaded mixtape on MixtapeMonkey‘s “Most Downloaded Mixtapes Ever.” It’s safe to say that Chance the Rapper has all eyes on him — and those eyes have been intently watching.

It’s been three years since the release of the critically acclaimed Acid Rap (it has an 86 on Metacritic), and after hinting at it for some months now, Chance the Rapper has finally officially announced his next project. Titled Chance 3, the project will drop on May 13. Yes, you read that correctly — the tape will be available for download in a week’s time. Is this an album? No, it is another mixtape. (Just like you, I wonder when we’ll receive an actual LP from Chance.)

.@chancetherapper will release “Chance 3” on May 13th pic.twitter.com/3Cn7TQGk9C

— HIP HOP FACTS (@DailyRapFacts) May 6, 2016

The Chicago rapper announced the release date during his musical guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he performed a new track titled “Blessings.” In the performance, he had American jazz/neo soul band The Social Experiment and a full gospel choir backing him, bolstering the sound. In addition to the band and choir, Jamila Woods offers her contralto-esque gospel vocals to the performance. Furthermore, gospel singer Byron Cage lends a helping hand to the latter half of the performance. These aren’t the only vocal delivers though. Chance presents his strained, crackling, and emotive singing to the mix as well, diversifying the amount of singing present. Donnie Trumpet from The Social Experiment blows away on the trumpet as Chance raps, “It seems like blessings keep falling in my lap.” This is another single from the Chicago MC to have a prominent gospel vibe.

Before the performance began, Jimmy Fallon yelled, “People are going crazy for this tonight. Get ready for this one. The internet’s gonna go nuts for this one.” He wasn’t kidding: the Internet is going nuts for this one. And if the Internet isn’t going crazy, I know I am. Check out Chance’s performance above, and be sure to pick up Chance 3 when it drops on May 13.

[Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images]