Chance the Rapper Says Having Two Kids Is 'Way Harder' as He Opens Up About Paternity Leave

Chance the Rapper has learned quickly that double the number of kids truly does mean double the amount of work.

The new father of two, who welcomed daughter Marli Grace with wife Kirsten in late August, is opening up about his decision to take paternity leave following the baby’s birth, even though it meant postponing his upcoming The Big Day Tour.

“It’s just way harder, honestly, having two kids than having one,” he said Tuesday during a Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance. “Mathematically, it makes sense, but in my mind, it didn’t register until I actually had two kids.”

Though he was set to hit the road this past Saturday, Chance, 26, announced earlier this month that he was pushing the shows back to January to spend more time with Kirsten, newborn Marli and older daughter Kensli, 4.

“I couldn’t leave my wife at home with both of them, with the little one and the bigger one,” he explained, revealing he made the decision just five days before the first scheduled show. “It was a group decision. So yeah, [Kirsten] was thrilled when it went down that way.”

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The “Hot Shower” rapper seems to have fully embraced fatherhood during his time off, joking to host Jimmy Kimmel that he had diaper changes down pat: “People make the diaper part seem so tough. I would much rather do diapers if I didn’t have to wake up in the middle of the night, to be honest with you.”

He also revealed he’d tested the waters in bringing Kensli along on business trips, and that while she was “super cool” on a recent journey to Los Angeles, being away from home with her was still tricky.

“When we had to fly back home, I realized how tough it is traveling with your child,” he said. “She wasn’t even awake, it’s just like, she’s heavy. I couldn’t put her in the seat. I was just sitting awake the whole time, nodding off and having to wake back up.”

Chance and Kirsten, who tied the knot in March, welcomed Marli on Aug. 29, five months after they revealed they were expecting their second child.

Chance the Rapper (R) with wife Kirsten and daughter Kensli | Charley Gallay/Getty
Chance the Rapper (R) with wife Kirsten and daughter Kensli | Charley Gallay/Getty

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The musician announced his leave on Sept. 9, sharing a sweet photo of him holding both of his daughters in his arms and writing, “This year has been one of the greatest of my life; Marriage, new baby, first album etc. But with it being so eventful it has also been very strenuous having to divide my time and energy between family and work.”

He went on to explain that when Kensli was born, he went on tour just two weeks later, missing important milestones early on in her life and being “absent when her mother needed me the most.”

“At this point as a husband and father of two I realize that I can’t make that mistake again,” he wrote. “I need to be as helpful and available as possible to my wife in these early months of raising Kensli and Marli.”

Chance announced that instead of launching in San Francisco on Sept. 14, the tour, in support of his first-ever studio album The Big Day, would now kick off in San Diego on Jan. 15.