Grammy-winning and global independent innovator Chance the Rapper has officially announced the release date of ‘Star Line,’ his most ambitious and personal project to date, arriving August 15. ‘Star Line’ reflects Chance’s global journey, artistically, spiritually, and physically, over the past six years. Created with longtime producer DexLvL and shaped by travels to Ghana, Jamaica, and art fairs around the world, ‘Star Line’ blends hip-hop, soul, and experimental sounds with lyrical meditations on identity, resilience, and legacy. While Chance has circled the globe in search of new perspectives, the project remains grounded in the worldview that has always defined his art: a deep, unshakable connection to Chicago and to Black culture across the diaspora.

 

 

Chicago-based artist Brandon Breaux, Chance’s longtime visual collaborator behind the iconic covers for 10 Day, Acid Rap, and Coloring Book, created the album’s artwork. Over more than a decade, Chance and Breaux have developed a distinct visual language—one that resists reductive industry tropes and centers Blackness in vibrant, imaginative fullness. With ‘Star Line’, their creative dialogue continues, honoring Chance’s evolution while remaining rooted in authenticity and cultural reverence.

The album’s lead single, “Tree” featuring Lil Wayne and Smino, is out now. Built around a soulful reinterpretation of India.Arie’s “Video,” the track functions as both a personal tribute and a liberation anthem. Lyrically, Chance reflects on the strength of his mother and the inequities in agricultural industries. Blending vulnerability with defiance, he also reclaims cannabis as a symbol of peace, healing, and economic resistance.

The self-directed music video extends this vision. Set in a Black women-owned dispensary that doubles as a growing facility, the visual celebrates ownership, cultivation, and community-building, while challenging long-held stigmas around cannabis and Black entrepreneurship. The dispensary becomes a symbol of sovereignty, drawing a direct line to Garvey’s original Black ‘Star Line’: not just a vessel for liberation, but a platform for sustainable wealth, mobility, and self-determination. Playful, surreal, and rooted in joy, the video rejects tragedy and instead centers resilience, resistance, and Black women’s leadership.