Chance The Rapper Reacts To BET Humanitarian Award; Promises ‘I Won’t Let You Down’

Chance The Rapper’s been a beacon of hope in turbulent times, providing a positive message in his music and doing charitable work in Chicago. His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed with fans and now, he’s being rewarded.

The “Juke Jam” rapper’s set to receive the BET Humanitarian Award at the 2017 BET Awards on Sunday, June 25. Chance reacted to the honor on Twitter, thanking the network’s chairman and CEO Debra Lee for choosing him. The musician promised to continue his charitable work and “do so much more.”

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The BET Humanitarian Award honors those who are “positively impacting both local and national communities” via “impactful educational, social and political initiatives.” Several major stars have been honored with the award. Jesse Williams, Dwayne Wade, Al Sharpton, John Legend and more have received the award in previous years.

Chance has been vocal in his distaste for the Trump administration, especially when it comes to Donald Trump’s views on Chicago. During a June 1 appearance on “The View,” the independent artist slammed the president over comments he made about “‘carnage’” in his hometown. Chance claimed he’d never seen Trump in Chicago before, suggesting he had no idea what the city is actually like.

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

During the same interview, Chance opened up about some real struggles Chicago is facing. He revealed that the city’s schools are “underfunded,” which is why he’s been working so tirelessly to raise money for them. Additionally, he said the city struggles to balance the relationship between police and citizens.

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

This interview isn’t the first time Chance’s responded to Trump’s tweets. Not long after the president threatened to send “the feds” to Chicago, Chance told The Undefeated he was tired of people talking about the city like a “third world country.” He said that if Trump really cared about fixing problems in Chicago, he’d come in to work on “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.

Chance isn’t leaving the change making up to politicians, though. He’s taking matters into his own hands. The rapper donated $1 million to Chicago Public Schools after they cut their formerly $46 million budget. He later donated another $2.2 million with the help of the Chicago Bulls, Scooter Braun and Hannibal Buress, according to Pitchfork.

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In addition to his donation, Chance launched the New Chance Arts and Literature Fund. The money raised “will bring arts programming and materials to schools.” Chance promised to “begin investing dollars and material resources to Chicago Public Schools” as early as this fall.

Somehow, the charitable rapper and hands-on father continues to make time to work on his music. In January he assured fans he would be releasing new songs with an overriding positive message to help them cope with Trump-related fears. He told GQ he had a message for those that love his music, telling them to look on the bright side.

“I would say to everybody, you know, the world is coming together,” he said. “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?”