Slideshow: Exclusive Red-Carpet Photos of Chance the Rapper at World Premiere of ‘Slice’

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Austin Vesely, the writer and director of ‘Slice.'

CHICAGO – One of Chicago’s biggest celebrities and greatest ambassadors was a high school student in 2011. Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper, has had a meteoric rise from that Chi-town high school to become one of music’s brightest stars. And besides the fame, he has made it his mission to help others, both with his time, donations and charitable events. And he has just made his debut in a movie, the appropriately titled “Slice.”

“Slice” is a B-movie take off, about a small town mystery in which pizza delivery boys are being slain on the job. Two daring survivors set out to catch the culprits behind the crime spree, that also involves a known werewolf (Chance as Dax) and a pizza restaurant built on a gateway to hell. Fellow cast members Zazie Beetz, Paul Scheer, Rae Gray – and director Austin Vesely – joined Chance on the Red Carpet Chicago World Premiere of “Slice” at the Arclight Cinemas on September 10th, 2018.

Chancelor Bennett was another suspended high school Senior in 2011 at Jones College Prep, when he recorded and released his first mixtape, “10 Day” (referring to the length of his suspension), and it took off like a rocket. He recorded and toured with Childish Gambino in 2012, and released his second mixtape “Acid Rap” in 2013. On the popularity of that work, he played his first Lollapalooza the same year. The hits kept coming on “Surf” in 2015 and Chance made his first appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” 2016 brought collaboration with Kanye West (“The Life of Pablo”), and the mixtape release of “Coloring Book” (or “Chance 3”). The compilation became the first release to chart solely on downloaded streaming. That led to his performance at the 2017 Grammys, where he had seven nominations and won three. His headline concert at Lollapalooza that year was estimated to be the largest attended performance in that event’s history. Two months ago, on July 18th, he released four new songs.

But music is not the only stratosphere that Chance has conquered. His give-backs to the community is inspired by his parent’s work with Illinois politics, and his father Ken-Williams Bennett was a aide to both former mayor Harold Washington and then-Senator Barack Obama. The Rapper famously donated a million dollars to the Chicago Public Schools, and has led charitable causes for combating gun violence in the city, including the national “My Brother’s Keeper Challenge,” which promotes mentoring for young men of color. One of his advocates is President Barack Obama, and Chance headlined an Obama Foundation event in 2017.

HollywoodChicago.com photographer Joe Arce shot these Exclusive Photos on the Red Carpet at the Chicago World Premiere of “Slice.” Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos © Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

1. CHANCE1: Chance the Rapper portrays Dax in ‘Slice.’
2. CHANCE2: Zazie Beetz is Astrid in ‘Slice.’
3. CHANCE3: Paul Scheer plays Jack in ‘Slice.’
4. CHANCE4: Rae Gray portrays Sadie in ‘Slice.’
5. CHANCE5: Austin Vesely, the writer and director of ‘Slice.’
6. CHANCE6: Group shot at the Arclight Cinemas of Chicago on Sep. 10, 2018.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]