Chance The Rapper has released a new single dedicated to his Black Star Line Festival in Ghana. The Chicago emcee (real name Chancellor Bennett) is set to put out his forthcoming album, Star Line Gallery, this spring and themes of community, perseverance, support, and hope in the face of adversity will permeate through the project.
Star Line Gallery will be Bennett’s first release since his 2019 album The Big Day and represents something greater than himself. In an interview with Julia Lepidi on her Detroit radio show The Julia Show last year, the ‘Cocoa Butter Kisses’ lyricist unveiled the meaning behind his upcoming LP.
Providing listeners with some history, Bennett explained, “The namesake of the album is from the Black Starline Shipping Company, which started in the early 1900s and was a black-owned trade company that created not just economic opportunities for black people but also a connection and passenger ship so people could have real relations with other countries.”
This latest single, entitled ‘I Will Be Your’,’ intertwines African-American culture’s past and present state. With lyrics such as Where we at on the map? It’s still happening / I know a nigga in the field, he’s still trappin’ / They sent tears from heaven but still niggas clapped-him.”
‘I Will Be Your’ is soulful and samples Stephanie Mills’ 1981 R’n’B classic, ‘”Don’t Stop Doin’ What Cha Do’, and although it addresses some heavy issues, Bennett tackles them with care and levity.
Star Line Gallery is named after Bennett’s festival, which has been held in Ghana and Jamaica and embraces pan-African culture celebrating Black artists from Africa, the Caribbean and America.
Last year, the rapper toured in celebration of his 2013 mixtape Acid Rap‘s 10th anniversary. The project is considered a classic and is what put Bennett firmly on the map. You can listen to ‘I Will Be Your’ below.
