After Chicago’s Chance The Rapper took home three trophies at the Grammys, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner tried to pander to his hipper constituents by tweeting about Chance and saying that the state of Illinois “is proud that you’re one of our own.”
Chance responded just a few minutes later, telling Rauner that he’d like to set up a meeting that week.
At this point, it’s probably worth mentioning that Rauner’s track record as governor is—to put it one way—a little shaky. Things may be falling apart partially because the state has no budget, but to be fair, the fact that he’s not in prison still puts him above average in terms of Illinois’ last few governors. So, when a socially conscious guy like Chance tweeted that he’d like a meeting, it seemed a little more important than, say, when a sports team wins a championship and gets to visit the president.
That may be why it’s taken so long for this to happen, but according to Pitchfork, Chance is finally getting his meeting with Rauner this week. This morning, he tweeted that he’ll be privately sitting down with Rauner on Wednesday, and the two of them will “address funding education in Chicago.”
Earlier this month, Chance came to Chicago’s defense after Donald Trump tweeted that he would “send in the feds” to do something about the city’s violence, with Chance noting that it sounded like Trump wanted to go to war with the city. It’s probably too early to say if these are the early days of Chance transitioning from The Rapper to The Politician, but his good buddy Barack Obama could probably help open a few doors if he decided to take that path. Also, as a White Sox fan, Chance is used to putting up with bullshit, and he proved over the weekend that he’s good at convincing crowds to show up and support cool stuff. That already makes him more qualified than Trump.