Chance the Rapper led a crowd of people to an early voting site Monday following a performance in Chicago’s Grant Park.
The 23-year-old Chicago native announced the free concert – dubbed Parade to the Polls – last week. Chance has publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton and performed last week at her Cleveland concert alongside Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Big Sean and J. Cole. But the rapper said his early voting party was completely nonpartisan.
“I’m here to make sure you all stay woke and vote,” the rapper told the crowd, according to the Chicago Tribune. The concert was originally slated to be a rooftop party, but was moved to the park because of capacity concerns.
The event was sponsored by Virgin Hotels and Social Works, a nonprofit the rapper founded earlier this year. The Associated Press reported Monday night that hundreds of people joined the rapper in the parade to the polls. On Twitter, Chance said he was accompanied by thousands, and the Tribune said thousands had registered for the event on Facebook.
Chance was among the celebrity attendees at the Obama administration’s final state dinner last month. The rapper attended with his father, an adviser to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who worked for Barack Obama during his time in the Senate. A week earlier, Chance praised the Atlantic for endorsing Clinton for president and stopped by the magazine’s office bearing gifts.
Optimism is a benchmark of Chance’s music. His third mixtape, “Coloring Book,” was released earlier this year to critical acclaim.
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(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Bethonie Butler
