With his musical knowledge, mentoring abilities, and personal swag, Chance the Rapper is the coach to beat this season

Chance the Rapper needs no help in the hype department, his musical record stands for itself. He has won multiple Grammy Awards as an independent artist, never having signed a record deal, prioritizing instead making his art freely available. His 2016 debut album, Coloring Book, featured superstar artists like Kanye West, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Justin Bieber, Future, T-Pain, Anderson .Paak, and many more. He also recorded with the Chicago Children’s Choir, showing his dedication to working with young hometown artists and developing their musical abilities. His nonprofit organization, SocialWorks, continues this trend of giving back to the Chicagoland community by donating $10 million to “inspire and empower youth through arts, education, and civic engagement.” And now he’s lending his talents to reality competition.

Chance has an undeniable charisma to match his impeccable musical resume. It’s little wonder that he has unseated John Legend as the “4-chair King” on this season of The Voice.​​​​​ While his team has several of these undeniable talents recognized by the other judges, Chance also can find unique voices that have special qualities that only he recognizes. He knows that he can develop contestants into greater artists and surprise the other judges and viewers with their talent. When it comes down to him going head to head with the other judges, Chance speaks from the heart and has the ability to sway strong vocalists to join him. This season his team is undeniably stacked with an amazing group of artists that range in genre and vocal styles. Chance is the coach to beat on season 25 of The Voice.

Chance Has the Most 4-Chair Artists on ‘The Voice’

Chance started the season off strong, winning the very first 4-chair turn. Chance used his block on Reba McEntire right out of the gate when Dani Stacy performed a version of “I Will Survive” accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Chance’s pitch to the contestant was strong, as it usually is when he wants an artist to join his team. Chance asked Dani if she grew up doing country music, and was glad to learn she had a range of influences to draw from. He told the producers, “With her being an instrumentalist, and her interest around different genres, I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun.” He seemed genuinely shocked when Dani chose him, but his confidence soon returned. In a production interview, he chirped, “I’m back! To win it all.” For her part, Dani said that she chose Chance because he “sees the artist.” She continued, “He’s innovative, and he felt connected to my performance. That’s the biggest compliment that I can get.”

Maddi Jane was his next 4-chair artist. She grew up in Chicago, so Chance had an early home-city advantage. She performed a rendition of “Escapism,” highlighting her rapping ability and her vocal strengths. Chance started his pitch with confidence, telling Maddi, “Yeah, come get on team Chance, that’s all I got to say.” Maddi immediately quipped back, “I’m gonna need just a little bit more than that though.” Chance acknowledged that she deserves “a lot more than that,” and continued to persuade her with a convincing pitch. He spoke to her about rapping and singing in the same performance, and the breath control that it takes. He spoke about her ability to turn up the crowd and told her that what he would bring to her as a coach was his knowledge of genre blending. He also touched on his history of platforming young artists to “give them the opportunity to tell their story and show the songs that they grew up listening to.” After Maddi chose team Chance, John noticed his young rival was having a good run with the 4-chair turns. He dubbed him the “young prince” of 4-chair turns, little knowing that Chance was coming for his crown as “king.”

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An exciting moment for Chance was when 16-year-old Serenity Arce chose his team. Serenity is a returning vocalist, who auditioned when she was 14-years-old and was told by Blake Shelton to come back once she had some more experience. She took this feedback and committed to doing just that. Serenity’s performance of “This City” resulted in one of the hardest-fought battles between the coaches. John used his block on country artists Dan + Shay, thinking the young vocalist might be inclined to pick them as her coach. But Chance committed to his pitch, complimenting Serenity’s dedication to her performance. He spoke specifically about her vocal abilities, saying: “You have this amazing use of your head voice, and your high register, but you also have a real crazy smooth transition to like, your chest and stuff. It makes me really just excited to see the range of songs that you do.” Chance even declared that Serenity can win the season with any of the coaches, but lets her know if she chooses him, “you’ll get to show who you are.”

Chance saved his final spot on his team for an artist with a very special sound. When Val T. Webb hit the stage with “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here,” he turned around almost immediately. Val has worked as a background vocalist for artists like India.Arie, and each of the coaches were blown away by her abilities. Chance told producers, “I’ve been waiting for so long to find somebody that I feel like has a powerhouse voice and can really carry R&B. And I think some of my most important arrangements this season are gonna come out of working with Val.” Val said that she chose Chance specifically because she had watched his coaching on season 23, and she noticed his ability to “shape and mold his artists.” She says that she is looking to work with someone who can help her “bring that creativity out.”

Chance Fights For Artists’ Unique Sounds

One of the more entertaining face-offs between coaches this season was Chance and John competing to sway young Nadège to their team. Her performance of “Get You” impressed the two coaches, and each pulled out all the stops to convince her to join them. John stacked on the compliments, and when Nadège told him that she used to sing his song “Ordinary People,” he offered to join her on stage to sing a duet with her. Meanwhile, Chance muttered, “I feel like I lost already.” However, Chance was still up for the challenge, offering to sing the song with Nadège as well. After his vocal performance, Chance leaned into his pitch: “My favorite part is learning from young artists, what their influences are, finding those songs and creating the best arrangements that suit their voice and also help translate the meaning and emotions behind those songs, and I would love to do that for you.” Nadège ultimately picked Chance, saying that she admires his ability to move between genres and make the sound his own. In the end, Chance quipped in an interview that beating John Legend at a John Legend contest was pretty high up on his list of life experiences.

Chance was impressed early on when Kamalei Kawa’a performed “Redemption Song.” He pushed his button almost immediately, and by the end of the performance, Chance was on his feet clapping emphatically. Chance spoke about Kamalei’s song choice, stating that the song’s radical history “means a lot to all oppressed peoples around the world.” He then articulated what it would mean to have someone of Kamalei’s indigenous background on his team and this stage, saying “I think having you on here and representing Pacific Islanders, Indigenous people, Hawaiians, like, people around the world, I think it’s really important for the show to have.” Chance was excited when Kamalei chose him over Reba, telling producers, “He’s got a great story to tell, and I’m happy to help him tell it.” For her part, Reba was thoroughly impressed by Chance’s abilities to win artists over: “Chance comes through with the best pitches I’ve ever heard. He’s sincere, he’s to the heart.”

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Reba and Chance had another standoff when it came to artist RLETTO (pronounced R-letto). He describes himself as an artist who combines genres, saying “if Doja Cat and The Weeknd had a baby, it would be me.” His performance of “Golden Hour” impressed both judges. Chance was the first to turn and when Reba turned around at the last minute, Chance quietly muttered “no,” while covering his mouth in frustration. In his pitch to sway the performer to his team, he complimented his stylistic choices: “You’re a powerhouse vocalist. All the runs, to me, felt extremely intentional.” He tells RLETTO that he wants to be the coach that helps him choose big songs to impress the audience. After RLETTO chose him, Chance spoke in an interview about how the artist reminds him of himself, saying: “I’m very into the performance, galvanizing a crowd and getting them wrapped up in the emotion. He seems to be a real performer, a real star.”

Chance Recognizes the Talent In His Team

One artist that Chance decided to take a chance with was Bri Fletcher. Her performance of “I’m With You” was enough to demonstrate to the coach that she “has talent” and made him want to hear more from her. She was a single chair turn, where Chance heard something unique in her voice that he knew he could help elevate through coaching. He notes that even though Bri was slightly pitchy in some places during her performance, she “has a really full tone, and her belt range, if it’s on pitch, it’s amazing.” His confidence in his ability to coach away something like pitch issues, which often come when nerves get the best of a performer, should help Bri to show off more of her tone and range in the next round of the competition.

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Gabriel Goes is possibly the most animated contestant ever seen on The Voice. His rendition of “What I Got” was true to his Hawaiian surfer roots. Chance waited until almost the end of Gabriel’s audition to turn his chair around, but was overall impressed: “I thought it was special. You have a very different sound.” He compared the young talent to singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, but also had some helpful pointers about Gabriel’s style choices: “The thing that shined the most was when you had a little bit more dynamics going, and you added more movement to it. I thought it was awesome.” On stage chatting with the judges, Gabriel’s grin was infectious as he tossed out surfer lingo like “brah” and “grom” and threw “shakas” with his hands. Gabriel was also enthusiastic in his expressions of gratitude for Chance believing in him. John noted that Chance can sometimes see “possibilities” in artists that the other coaches might miss. For Chance’s part, he thinks that the other coaches will be surprised by the performances he will be able to pull out of Gabriel once they get into song choices and coaching tips.

Corey Curtis performed “Waiting On The World To Change” accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Chance turned right away, and enthusiastically watched the performance. When Corey finished his audition, Chance slipped into coaching mode immediately. He commented that they would need to work together on enunciation and also pointed out the importance of giving space for movement within the song. Chance acknowledged he was looking forward to seeing what other strengths Corey has once they get started working together.

Chance has gathered a team with a variety of skill sets and a range of vocal talents. With his coaching to help smooth over any rough areas, they should prove to be tough competition for the other coaches this season. Moving into the Battle Rounds, competitors from the same team will be paired together to perform a song. One artist will be eliminated while the winner is chosen to move on to the Knockout Rounds. Chance will have to make some tough choices about which of his talented artists will stay in the competition. Of course, there is always the opportunity for an eliminated artist to earn a “save” from Chance or a “steal” from the other coaches. While it remains to be seen what will come in the next rounds, Chance’s team is filled with such talented artists that it’s almost certain the other coaches will have their eye on keeping them around.

The Voice airs on Mondays and Tuesdays live on NBC. Episodes can then be streamed on Peacock the following day.