Chance The Rapper Makes Political Statement With BET Awards 2017 Acceptance Speech

Chance the Rapper might just be the hero we’ve all been waiting for. The musician inspired audiences with a moving speech during the 2017 BET Awards on Sunday, vowing to leave this world a better place than it is now.

The “No Problem” rapper took the stage after a virtual introduction from former First Lady Michelle Obama. The 24-year-old kicked off his acceptance speech by thanking those who nominated him, telling the audience what an honor it was to be recognized at such a young age. Chance then said that God has put “enormous pressure” on him to change the world, promising to do just that and urging others to get on board.

“I’m 24 and to be receiving something like this at my age it feels good as hell,” he said (via TMZ). “I love this. I love black people man. Gas me up, please. Gas me. I was gonna say it feels a little early to get something like this. But my god doesn’t make mistakes. And I like to think he’s putting this enormous pressure on me to see how I react. And I have plans to tell the world and everyone watching to make the world a better place...But my big homie Reese told me that we gotta work on ourselves before we change the world.”

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He continued, “I want to be more involved outside just my community of Chicago. I want to travel overseas and help out people all over the world. And like I said, being 24 and getting something like this, it doesn’t feel deserved yet. But like I said — my god is putting the pressure on me so I can become who I’m supposed to be. I’m a good man, and I’m gonna become a better man.”

Chance learned he’d been nominated for the BET Humanitarian Award on June 6. The rapper took to Twitter, as he often does, to express his gratitude. Sharing a message from the network’s chairman and CEO Debra Lee, he thanked her for picking him and promised to continue his charitable efforts.

The Chicago native is one of many big stars to receive the award, which honors celebrities who are “positively impacting both local and national communities” via “impactful educational, social and political initiatives.” In fact, BET has been giving out the honor for several years. Recent recipients include Jesse Williams, Dwyane Wade, Al Sharpton, John Legend and more.

Chance has been especially outspoken in his humanitarian efforts since the election of Donald J. Trump. He’s spoken out several times following some salacious comments from the president about the city from which Chance hails. During a June 1 appearance on “The View,” the rapper slammed Trump, 70, over comments he made about “carnage” in the Windy City.

“I don’t know if he knows what he’s talking about,” he said, referencing a January tweet from the president.

The “Juke Jam” rapper then opened up about some real struggles facing Chicago. He said the city’s schools suffer from being severely “underfunded,” which he’s been working to combat. Chance added that there are ongoing trust issues between citizens and police.

“We have over-policed neighborhoods and terrible relationships between the communities and officers,” he said.

Chance previously addressed Trump’s tweets about Chicago, namely one where he threatened to send “the feds” in. The independent artist told The Undefeated he was sick of people talking about his hometown like a “third world country.” He added that if Trump were really worried about Chicago, he’d focus on fixing real issues, including their “budgets.”

“I hope he’s coming in to do some type of federal overturn of our state and city budgets in terms of schooling and housing,” he said.

While Trump has yet to set any plans into motion to do anything about the problems he believes people in Chicago are facing, Chance has been hard at work bettering the city. The rapper donated $1 million to Chicago Public Schools after a $46 million budget cut. He later donated an additional $2.2 million with an assist from the Chicago Bulls, Scooter Braun and Hannibal Buress, Pitchfork reported.

Chance also started something called the New Chance Arts and Literature Fund. Money raised “will bring arts programming and materials to schools.” Chance vowed to “begin investing dollars and material resources to Chicago Public Schools” by this fall.

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Charitable donations aren’t all this Grammy award winner’s got to offer the world. He’s promised to combat negativity world wide with his music. In January, he told GQ he wasn’t worried about life with Trump in the White House and fans shouldn’t be either, because he was coming with a message of love and light for all.

“I would say to everybody, you know, the world is coming together,” he told the magazine. “Like, there’s — everyday people are becoming more and more...sensitive to real issues and...aware. People are raising their kids to be more and more knowledgeable and understanding. I would say the main reason not to be afraid is that I’m making music for your kids now. I’m coming so clean-cut with the message of hope and understanding, and the Word, that it’s like: What could you be fearful of?”