Eccentric, unorthodox, and adventurous. These are three adjectives I would use to describe this hip-hop artist who has gone from a local name to a internet sensation.

He is influenced by Chicago music, with a jazz sound to his beats and unique flow that has been compared to legendary rappers such as Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Andre 3000. He has worked with successful hip-hop artists such as Childish Gambino, Action Bronson, and Ab-Soul, as well as toured with Childish Gambino. All in the span of two years, he has managed to emerge as a respectable artist with considerable talent. He is a true anomaly in hip-hop, and that’s without even releasing an album.

My choice for the #1 “up and coming” rapper to watch in 2014: Chance the Rapper.

Call me biased, but I can’t point to any other “up-and-coming” rapper in the rap game who has this much buzz around them. Of course I recognize artists such as Joey Bada$$, Rockie Fresh, Travis Scott, A$AP Nast, and Vic Mensa as being talented and definitely artists to watch this year, but none of them have the lyrical talent and unique sound that Chance brings to the table. Beyond these skills, Chance also possesses an ability to rap about stories.

All the greats, including Biggie Smalls, Snoop Dogg, and, of course, Tupac Shakur, had this talent. Telling stories about the struggles of living in the ghettos of cities such as Long Beach, California or Brooklyn, New York used to be the main topic of rap. That skill to be able to make a good song with a good beat while telling a story is a sign of a great rapper and maybe even a legendary rapper.

However, it wasn’t just story telling that made these rappers great, but also their versatility when it came to song topics, lyrics, and flow. I see this same talent in Chance. No matter the song, he is implementing his unique flow and showcasing his ability to rhyme with well-constructed lyrics. He can also change his flow. One minute he is mellow and nostalgic, the next minute he is spastic and aggressive.

All in all, Chance is the rapper to watch this year because he has shown, at a young age, that he not only has skill when it comes to writing lyrics, story telling, or rhyming, but he has originality, which is something this genre lacks deeply nowadays. If he continues to follow this creativity and stays true to his sounds, he will go down as one of the greatest rappers of all time. As Arthur Koestler once said, “The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.”