Inside Chance The Rapper’s ‘The BIG Store’

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A billboard of Chance The Rapper’s “The Big Day” cover art at The Big Store pop-up, located at 1006 S. Michigan Ave.

To celebrate the release of his debut ‘owbum’ The Big Day, Chance The Rapper held a pop-up shop in his hometown of Chicago. The shop doubled as a museum of sorts — visitors were escorted through a dozen rooms, with each one providing an intimate look at the musician’s personal life and professional career. Follow along as we give y’all a tour of ‘The Big Store’:

Childhood Living Room

The first room in the exhibit is styled as a living room from the 90s, with a couch facing a TV and VCR set-up. The video footage displayed in this room gave a look at Chance’s life growing up. An adolescent Chancelor Bennett is seen attending church service, singing at his kindergarten graduation, and sitting on steps with his brother Taylor. The room also included a coffee table with magazines and newspapers that feature Chance on the cover, such as GQ and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kirsten Flower Room

Mounds of white roses fill the second room of The Big Store. This room is dedicated to Chance’s wife Kirsten, telling the story of how the two met. We see more video footage of Chance’s adolescence, as well as photos from Kirsten’s early years.

Kensli’s Playroom

This room is dedicated to Chance’s daughter Kensli. Children’s toys adorned in Swarovski crystals fill the room, including a teddy bear, dump truck, and a Radio Flyer wagon.

Arcade Room

When Chance and Kirsten were dating, sometimes they would go out to the arcade and the movies. In this room we learn about Chance’s love for Pac-Man, air hockey, and the movie 500 Days of Summer. Video footage in this room includes a ping pong match between frequent collaborators Smoko Ono and Nate Fox, as well as young Chance and Taylor playing on a mini basketball hoop.

Wedding Room

In this room we get an intimate look at Chance and Kirsten’s wedding day. Footage of the ceremony and reception plays on the screen that is mounted to the Swarovski crystal-adorned wall. The outfits that Chance, Kirsten, and Kensli wore on the wedding day are on display.

10 Day Room

Skipping ahead a bit, we transition from Chance’s personal life into his music career. In the 10 Day room, we see memorabilia from Chance’s days at Jones College Prep: a yearbook, his class schedule, and the official CPS misconduct report from Chance’s 10 day suspension, which inspired the 10 Day mixtape. The outfit that Chance wore on the cover of the mixtape is on display, as well as memorabilia from Chance’s first headlining show at Lincoln Hall and his first tour with Mac Miller.

Acid Rap Room

In the Acid Rap room, visitors were able to play with beat pads filled with samples used in the Acid Rap mixtape. Here we see an unofficial cover for the mixtape, the Social Experiment uniform, and a Swarovski crystal embellished microphone.

 

Coloring Book Room

This room is dedicated to the final installment of Chance’s mixtape trilogy. We see Chance’s personal collection of 3 hats, a look at his tour wardrobe (which includes the Nike Air Yeezy Red Octobers and Just Don Timberlands), and the animatronic characters from the Magnificent Coloring World Tour.

 Grammy Room

The 2016 Grammys was a historic night for Chance and the music industry as a whole. Coloring Book won the Grammy for Best Rap Album, the first streaming-only project to receive the award. All 3 Grammys that Chance won are on display (Best Rap Album, Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance), as well as the outfits that Chance wore during the 2016 Grammys and during his performance at the 2017 Grammys.

The BIG Store

The experience ends at the gift shop, where visitors were able to purchase merch and all of Chance’s projects from 10 Day to The Big Day. Fans who purchased the ‘Owbum’ tee were able to get it decorated with rhinestones, similarly to how the actual The Big Day CD is adorned.

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