This Chicago teenager raps in a cartoonish, weed-addled blur, but he displays a serious eloquence about his situation: growing up as a possible black-sheep in a tight-knit family, spending his childhood in a burnt-out urban warzone. His new mixtape, Acid Rap, matches his inimitable voice with expansively jazzy production that brings to mind early Kanye, and it’s one of the year’s most ambitious mixtapes, and its best. He surprised Lollapalooza organizers when mobs of local kids jammed the area around his small-stage performance. And for his latest trick, Chance handily swiped Lil Wayne’s new mixtape Dedication 5 away from him with just one guest appearance. – Tom

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BUY: Acid Rap is available as a free download.