Chance The Rapper Will Give 30,000 Backpacks To Kids At The Bud Billiken Parade

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 10, 2017 8:33PM

Chance the Rapper performs at Lollapalooza, 2017 / Photo: Annie Lesser

We guess Chance the Rapper already had his official Lollapalooza afterparty, but ever since it was announced that the Chatham rapper would be this year's Grand Marshall at annual the Bud Billiken Parade, it felt like that would be the real capstone—at least as far as Chicagoans are concerned.

Turns out Chance is indeed planning some big things for the Bronzeville tradition. In partnership with STATE Bags and Chance's outreach organization, SocialWorks, the rapper will hand out 30,000 backpacks filled with "essential supplies" at the parade on Saturday, just in time for the start of the school year.

Even beyond his high-profile donations to Chicago Public Schools, Chance has been outspoken with his criticism when it comes to education funding—a trend which continued with the backpacks announcement.

"Due to a lack of political leadership by the state and city on the topic of education, SocialWorks will begin to take initiative during the 2017-18 school year to ease some of the immense pressure put on teachers, students and parents," said Chance in a release. "We admire the work we've seen by STATE and are proud to partner with them as we work towards enhancing education and the conversation around funding formulas nationally."

The Bud Billiken parade kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, at King Drive and Oakwood Blvd. Route information is available here. Chance seems to be excited about it.

In the meantime, relive Chance's hometown Lollapalooza blowout from last week with our photo gallery and recap here.