Chance the Rapper donating Grammy Award to hometown museum

Chance The Rapper is donating one of his three Grammy Awards to museum officials in his native Chicago, Illinois.

The hip-hop hitmaker was the guest of honor during the DuSable Museum of African American History's Night of 100 Stars gala on Saturday (24Jun17), when he decided to surprise his hosts by making the unexpected announcement.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Chance received a standing ovation as he explained his hopes to help make the museum "a staple of African American history", and revealed he would be handing over his 2017 prize for Best Rap Album to venue bosses.

"Of course we didn't know about it. We had no idea," DuSable board member Lisa Pilot Livingston told the publication. "I looked at DuSable President/CEO Perri Irmer, and she looked at me, and we all just stood up and applauded."

The Grammy Chance won for his Coloring Book release is an historic one as it was the first ever awarded to an album only available to stream online. The 24-year-old also took home gongs for Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance for No Problem.

Chance went public with his generous gift to the museum a day before he was celebrated for his humanitarian work at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday (25Jun17).

The rapper, real name Chancelor Bennett, and his father Ken were appointed to the board of trustees at the DuSable Museum in January (17). As part of their new roles, they were tasked with helping officials at the institution work towards a goal to "promote understanding and inspire appreciation of the achievements, contributions, and experiences of African Americans".

Celebrating the new gig at the time of the announcement, Chance took to Twitter and revealed he was "honored" by the role, adding, "I got big plans."