The last 18 or so months have been something of a whirlwind for Chicago emcee Chance The Rapper. Releasing a critically acclaimed mixtape, Acid Rap, making it to the top of XXL‘s coveted Freshman Class of 2014, and being featured on a song by megastar Justin Bieber were just a few of moves made by the rapper born Chancellor Bennett.
Next up for Chance is a full-length studio album with his band, The Social Experiment. Bennett tells Billboard that his upcoming project, Surf, should be out before year’s end and fans can look forward to features from Frank Ocean, J. Cole, Rick Rubin, and Migos among others.
“Surf is the first project, which is coming out before the end of 2014,” says Chance. “It’s the first Social Experiment project. It’s a big step for all of us all putting our heads together and letting Nico [Segal, aka Donnie Trumpet] hold the reins and carry it. There’s a lot of great instrumentation. A lot of input from cool writers. I’m already saying too much.”
One might think that after getting this album out by the end of the year Chance would take a break, but he already has his sights set on a couple other projects he’s hoping to release in 2015.
“We have an idea for what we want to do next year following [the release] of Surf and [another project titled] SOX and everything else that is to come,” Chance details. “We’ve been really, really focused on The Lion King musical and stage design and use of props in the theater setting and trying to make a very cool musical-kinda thing. Like musical theater. So we’re working on that. It’s still in the development process.”
