You have never known joy like these teens hearing the opening bars of Childish Gambino‘s ‘This Is America‘ at Chance the Rapper‘s monthly OpenMike Chicago event. You may think you have: like when you found out you were gonna be an aunt or an uncle, or when you sank a heap of piss after climbing a mountain in remote South America, but actually, you are incorrect, that is not what pure joy is.
Pure joy is an entire crowd of Youths™ charging the stage, phones outstretched, so that they can show literally everyone they know that they were but feet away from Donald Glover.
thank you @donaldglover for coming to our 30th @socialworks_chi @OpenMikeChicago !!! thank you @chancetherapper for leveraging your celebrity for the youth of Chicago in moments like these. thank you @chipublib @YOUmediaChicago !!! pic.twitter.com/sCMyPVRyF0
— BLACK POWER ranger (@MalcolmLondon) June 12, 2018
Shouts to Donald Glover for blessing the Graduation special of @OpenMikeChicago 🙏🏽
Everyone in attendance will never forgot this moment
This is 🇺🇸
We do this for the people pic.twitter.com/awA3PIZCid
— €K (@seanck) June 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/JamesTylers/status/1006325786230566912
Glover performed as part of SocialWorks and Chicago Public Library‘s OpenMike Chicago graduation special – OpenMike’s usually a monthly showcase night for high school students to perform three-minute works to their peers and idols, who then perform and share their insider know-how. And SocialWorks, in case you were unfamiliar, is Chance the Rapper’s Chicago-based youth empowerment charity, focused on the arts, education and civic engagement. It’s the exactly the kind of cool as shit thing that makes one wish they were 16 again and living in Chicago rn.
Glover for his part is fully committed to inspiring the youths and behaves as if he’s in front of a stadium crowd, performing the y’huuuge and incredibly impactful track with all the dance crazes included, everyone in the room shouting the lyrics along with him.
Childish Gambino and Chance the Rapper have worked together a whole bunch of times before on songs from Glover’s Royalty and Because the Internet, and Chance’s Acid Rap. In September last year, upon winning two Emmys for Atlanta, Glover mentioned in a backstage interview that he reckons he’ll one day release a mixtape with Chance the Rapper.
I feel like if I don’t make a Chance the Rapper mixtape, like a double mixtape, a bunch of 14-year-olds are gonna kick my ass. They stop me on the street and it’s kinda scary: youth scares me. So I feel like I’ve gotta do something. I probably will.
Reckon that’s probably in the bag then, ey? KEEEEEN.
