On a recent episode of ‘Sway in the Morning,’ Chance the Rapper, whose full name is Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, shared that his faith-centered wedding sparked interest in his guests about Christianity.
He also recently announced he’s pushing back his upcoming tour in order to spend time with his wife and newborn child, the couple’s second, after explaining he felt convicted for not being there for his wife the first time around.
Chance and wife Kirsten welcome a new baby to the family
This past week, Chance and wife Kirsten welcomed their second child into the world, a baby girl named Marli.
“Our sweet baby girl, Marli, is here,” Kirsten Bennet shared to Instagram, with the baby sporting a onesie with the words “I am who He says I am,” on it.
Shortly after, the rapper announced that he would be pushing off his next tour in order to spend time with his family, and enjoy the beginning moments of Marli.
“I thought it over for the past week and I’ve decided to push back my tour,” he wrote. “This year has been one of the greatest of my life; Marriage, new baby, first album etc. But with it being so eventful it has also been very strenuous having to divide my time and energy between family and work.”
The twenty-six-year-old shared with his 10 million followers that he wanted to be present for both his children, but also his wife, taking responsibility for not being as present as he should have, the first time around.
“When Kensli was born, I went on tour 2 weeks later and missed some of the most important milestones in her life, but more importantly I was absent when her mother needed me the most,” he wrote. “At this point as a husband and father of two, I realize that I can’t make that mistake again. I need to be as helpful and available as possible to my wife in these early months of raising Kensli and Marli.”
The rapper’s tour, which was scheduled to start September 14 in San Fransisco, will now kick-off January 15 instead.
Chance apologized to fans for moving the tour, but many of the comments back were positive and encouraging.
“We understand, we proud of you, and most importantly CONGRATS!!!,” Tobilou wrote back.
“Salute!! Family first,” Joey Purps added.
The Grammy Award-winning artist also shared some of the details from his wedding day to long-time girlfriend Kirsten Corley, including how they centered the ceremony around their faith.
“One of the best things that ever happened to me was when I got married,” he said. “My wedding was dope … the Spirit was in there.”
The rapper shared how he actually surprised Kirsten by having gospel singers Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, and Hezekiah Walker perform during the ceremony.
“The whole union, between us and how we talked about what we planned it for, we wanted it to be a union for God. So we wanted it to be something that He could be proud of and something that we could use that space to develop that,” he continued.
The Chicago-native shared how many guests told him after the ceremony how touched they were by the faith shared between the couple, and some even said they were inspired to believe in God.
“[They] were like, ‘Yo man, I know this sounds weird but today just makes me feel like there is a God,’” he recalled. “That’s a heavy, heavy thing to hear on your wedding day.”
“I’m thinking about a million other things going right, going wrong, being with my wife, of all my family being there. And then, it’s just like when you get those interactions, it’s like this is the best thing that could come out of this — making somebody feel like they’re covered, protected or like there’s a purpose for them.”
The rapper has not been one to shy away from telling others about his faith, frequently using his social media platform to talk about his relationship with God.
Recently while on Apple Music’s Beats 1 on Queen Radio, hosted by Nicki Minaj, Chance shared how deciding to stay celibate before marriage saved his life.
Talking about one song in particular, “We Go High,” Chance explained how his wife’s decision to become celibate is what radically saved his life.
“I explain that my wife literally saved my life by becoming celibate and going and getting baptized,” he said.
“It changed her life, obviously. But we talking about me right now. It changed my life, for real. Now I know exactly where my strength comes from,” he added.