Chance the Rapper Gave Jordan 11s to Kids at Chicago Open Mic Event, Videos Show

chance the rapper
Chance the Rapper performs in concert on the second day of week two of the Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park on October 14, 2017 in Austin, Texas. Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images

It seems the kids who showed up to an open mic event in Chicago Monday got a little present alongside the entertainment: a fresh pair of Jordan 11s, courtesy of Chance the Rapper.

Andrew Barber—who created the popular Chicago-focused hip-hop site Fake Shore Drive—posted video of Chance gifting the sneakers, writing he "gave every kid who attended his #OpenMike tonight a pair of Jordan 11s. You can't tell me he's not the [greatest of all time]."

The video, which Chance himself retweeted, was originally posted by Twitter user @Marty2621, who shared multiple videos of kids receiving the Jordans. It's unclear which sneakers they are exactly, but they appear to be the yet-to-be-released "Win Like '96" Jordans and Chance himself retweeted a post claiming the kicks were unreleased.

.@chancetherapper gave every kid who attended his #OpenMike tonight a pair of Jordan 11s. You can't tell me he's not the 🐐.

Shout out @SocialWorks_Chi. #RipBrotherMike (via @marty2621) pic.twitter.com/S28JkReovQ

— Andrew Barber (@fakeshoredrive) December 5, 2017

Thank you @chancetherapper @SocialWorks_Chi @reeseynem @Jumpman23 @_TaylorBennett and all the other people who made this happen pic.twitter.com/gPKE4uZ7vH

— Party Marty Productions (@marty2621) December 5, 2017

So @chancetherapper gonna just give out unreleased Jordan’s to HS students at the Open Mike today where’s the love for the college students 😭😭😭😭

— QuiseFrom83rd (@swaqqdavion) December 5, 2017

The open-mic event was organized by Social Works Chicago, described on its website as "Chance the Rapper's youth empowerment charity." The monthly event, officially called Open Mike, is named after the Chicago poet Brother Mike who passed away three years ago at 38 years old. Mike was a mentor to a number of young folks in Chicago, including Chance and fellow rapper Noname. Chance told Chicago Magazine in 2015 that open mics hosted by Brother Mike gave him his first platform to grow as an artist.

"Brother Mike was just invested," Chance told the magazine. "He wanted to know what I was writing and what I was working on. He was the kind of person to tell me not to perform the same poem twice."

The Open Mikes are often pretty special, and have featured celebrity guests like Dave Chappelle and Kanye West. But Chance had seemingly hinted Monday's Open Mike would be something extra. "Different kinda @OpenMikeChicago today," he tweeted before the event.

Different kinda @OpenMikeChicago today 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/kVaijpcP96

— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) December 4, 2017

Chance actively helped kids in Chicago for a while, including raising more than $2 million in donations for the city's public schools. The artist himself gave $1 million.

"As a parent and proud product of CPS, I'm committed to helping Chicago's children have quality learning experiences that include the arts," he said to reporters in September. "Over the past month, I've crisscrossed the city, from Chatham to Chinatown, Humboldt Park to Hyde Park, visiting students and one thing is clear: if we invest in Chicago's children, we'll change the world."

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