Rapper Taylor Bennett: A rising star from Chicago

FOX 32 NEWS - Taylor Bennett wrote his first rap when he was just 9 years old.

Now 21, he's a rising hip-hop star from Chicago with sold out shows, a strong connection to fans, and family support unlike any other rapper.

“This album ...this is about Taylor... this is who Taylor is,” the rapper said.

Don’t look for a hip-hop persona from Taylor Bennett. This rising Chicago rapper wants fans to know the real him.

“How can you support someone if you don't know someone? So I did it for my fans,” Bennett said.

On Twitter, Bennett came out as bi-sexual this year.

“That's why I think I play a big role in hip-hop today, is because I’m one of those people that says I don't care...be yourself. I’m going to be myself, you know,” Bennett said.

And that's a Chicago guy from the West Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, who has a strong connection to God and helping others.

Next month, he'll co-host a homeless youth summit.

“I think the overall goal of it all is to make sure that nobody ever gets looked over,” Bennett said.

In high school, Bennett was selling out Chicago shows and disagreeing with his parents who wanted him to go to college.

“We both had the same idea in mind which was nobody wants to wake up at 38 and say what if,” Bennett said.

Now at age 21, Bennett just finished his first headlining tour with sold out shows nationwide, where he invited fans back to his bus.

“We just sit back and not just sign posters, but we kick it,” the rapper said.

Bennett says getting to know all those fans convinced him that he can be more than a voice for Chicago.

“Right now where I am is trying to go from being the voice of a Chicago teenager, now 21, to being a voice of a generation for millions of people who don't get to hear their voice spoken,” Bennett said.

That voice got a strong start in his politically connected family.

“So my mom always told me three things, she said be humble, be sober and be yourself,” Bennett said. “My dad has a saying of leave it all on the stage.”

And then there's Bennett’s brother.

“I don't have anybody else besides by dad as a male role model that I look up to as much as Chance,” Bennett said.

Yes, his big brother is Chance the Rapper, a huge hip-hop star from whom Bennett could watch and learn.

“You know being able to watch all of that and seeing Chance as an artist, there's nobody like him. So that's the best support I've gotten from Chance and I love it,” Bennett said.

Bennett doesn't mind being called "Chance the Rapper's brother."

But this rising star counts on his fans to let him step out of that shadow and shine on his own.

“They're my core fans and you know they don't care about who my brother is...they don’t care what I look like, they don't care about my sexuality, they care about Taylor Bennett,” the rapper said.