Thoughts on Chance

"BJohnson11" (brettjohnson01)
02/15/2017 at 19:23 • Filed to: None

After the Grammys performance (and awards he got) and the reaction to his latest mixtape in general, its safe to say that Chance the Rapper has blown up. He has become a mainstream, almost household name, which I’d think is pretty rare for a rapper (I’m not sure I can name another rapper in recent history with his sort of reach). People are being exposed to the happy, modest, and incredibly talented artist that Chance is, and his success is certainly well deserved, but it’s nice to take a look at where he’s come from. While Coloring Book is his most popular album, it is also his most gospel-y album, and in my personal opinion, his third best mixtape (authors note: its his third mixtape, but I didn’t want to use worst because that has such a negative connotation and really, Coloring Book is great).

Now, I don’t want to be even pretend I was “there from the start” with Chance or anything like that-far from it in fact. I really only got into rap about a year ago, but after discovering Chance and loving Coloring Book, a friend urged me to listen to his other two mixtapes, 10Day and Acidrap; and boy am I glad he did.

Chance has always been a happy, modest, talented rapper, but his lyrics and beats weren’t always so uplifting. Chance’s first mixtape and even non-mixtape songs hint at a darker, drug filled, problematic past.

His song Somewhere, Nowhere USA is a fantastic example. It’s lyrics not only talk about depression and thoughts of suicide, but also serve as an excellent example of his lyrical genius-Chance is phenomenal at linking seemingly non-sensical strings of words together to form poetry. I wont post all the lyrics here, but this youtube video has them on the screen. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! An excerpt:

Maybe I’m just stressed cause my damsel’s not undressed
And her knight in shining armor is searching for martyr
Like playing a game of operation with Parkinson’s
You touched the walls and you felt shocked
Cause when you touched the walls

You felt boxed

His first mixtape 10Day is as raw in lyrics as it is in sound. Recorded in a free recording studio in Chicago, Chance raps about his suspension from school, his roots and his lead into music. It also serves to show his poetic ability-in fact many of his raps were originally spoken word poetry he performed at open mics (search YouTube for Chance before the fame). He also channels a lot of Kanye Wests’ early work in 10Day in his sampling of tracks with his raps behind. Really the whole mixtape is phenomenal, and easy to listen front to back if you have an hour to spare, but I’ll just post his track Prom Night which I love.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Moving onto Acidrap, I’d say maybe my favorite of the three mixtapes because of it’s diversity. Again, easy to listen to front to back, but I love it because he has both upbeat, feel good tracks as well as deeper cutting tracks. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is widely regarded as one of his best songs across all his mixtapes, and is again, a lyrical masterpiece with a great beat behind it. Meanwhile, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a great song about the mean streets Chance grew up on. Again though, really ought to listen to the whole thing. Chain Smoker is a personal favorite song, but the whole thing is great.

I’m not sure what the whole point of this was, mostly just rambling. But Chance is great, and ALL of his music should be checked out, not just the gospel-y stuff that’s been on TV (Grammys, SNL, etc) lately.

If people liked this, I’ve got a lot more thoughts on different artists, so let me know if theres any interest.

Links to his first to mixtapes (free because, Chance) here:

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (21)

PatBateman > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 19:29

I like my rap free of popping bottles, Bentleys, and fake riches and have more gritty lyrics that truly reflect the culture from which it’s derived from. Give me Dr Dre, Snoop, B.I.G., or UGK (pre-Big Pimpin’) any day.

Could you imagine a country song about flying on private planes, Lambos, and Beverly Hills mansions?

E92M3 > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 19:30

Never heard of him. Honestly.. I’ll have to check him out.

Jack Does Cars > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 19:30

I’m a big fan of Chance. He volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club in Chicago, always talking to his fans on Twitter, obviously a great father to his daughter, releasing his music for free, and he is generally a good dude. I still think that, “Acid Rap,” is the greatest project ever released on SoundCloud. After all, alongside Kendrick Lamar, I think he is one of the greatest poets/rappers of this generation. I am thinking about seeing him when he comes to Charlotte, NC, in a few months, but we will see.

jkm7680 > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 19:31

I firmly believe that 99% of new rap music is pure shit. Plus most of these “rappers” are actual criminals, great role models for kids, right?

Farting into a microphone is sure to produce better music than Lil Yachty and Young Thug can.

Gambino, Chance, Action Bronson and a few others are the only ones I can listen to without attempting to deafen myself with a cordless drill.

BJohnson11 > Jack Does Cars
02/15/2017 at 19:32

Do it. I saw him in SF. He was awesome.

RyanFrew > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 20:12

Just bought my tickets for his tour today! If you like Chance, check out his younger brother, Taylor Bennett.

BJohnson11 > RyanFrew
02/15/2017 at 20:30

He has some good stuff for sure. Broad Shoulders is the song that comes to mind when I think of Taylor Bennett.

BJohnson11 > PatBateman
02/15/2017 at 20:31

Which is primarily why old Kanye was so great and new Kanye is so meh.

DipodomysDeserti > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 20:46

I see white girls driving G wagons wearing “Staight Outta ______” shirts. If NWA is mainstream, then it ain’t rare for rappers to become mainstream.

DipodomysDeserti > jkm7680
02/15/2017 at 20:50

If a kid has to use a music artist he doesn’t know as a role model, they’re probably fucked anyways. Most of the guys who laid the groundwork for modern rappers were criminals at some point.

jkm7680 > DipodomysDeserti
02/15/2017 at 20:58

Happens all the time, unfortunately.

BJohnson11 > DipodomysDeserti
02/15/2017 at 21:45

Eh I guess so, but that may be in large part due to the movie that came out recently. And liking stuff from the 90s has become hip again. But sure, even given NWA, you’ve gotta admit rappers are less likely to be mainstream than other genres.

DipodomysDeserti > BJohnson11
02/15/2017 at 21:59

They don’t make blockbuster movies about things that aren’t already mainstream.

I grew up listening to hardcore and punk rock. Name me a mainstream hardcore band or one that has had a major motion picture made about them. The genre has been around even longer than rap.

Rappers are much more likely to go mainstream than most other genres. Rap is a very popular form of music.

DipodomysDeserti > jkm7680
02/15/2017 at 22:11

Very true, but it’s more of a parenting issue than a rapper issue.

BJohnson11 > jkm7680
02/15/2017 at 22:38

I’ve been listening to Logic a little lately too. He’s definitely decent, but all of his songs sound soo similar to each other.

diplodicus > jkm7680
02/16/2017 at 09:11

You need perspective. https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/watch-noisey-atlanta-2-featuring-migos-lil-yachty-young-thug-killer-mike-and-more

Like whoever you want but don’t hate on artists because you don’t understand them.

jkm7680 > diplodicus
02/16/2017 at 16:49

No, I understand them alright.

I don’t consider it music. There’s no hidden meaning, it’s just about violence and cussing.

diplodicus > jkm7680
02/17/2017 at 08:32

You clearly don’t know anything about rap. And you’re just regurgitating the bullshit white people have said about rap for as long as its existed.

I mean calling 99% of rap artists criminals is just blatant racism. You act like all music is 100% true and that any music you don’t enjoy is inherently bad. I don’t enjoy country music but I don’t go into discussions about country artists and comment that 99% of all country musicians are just dumb hicks.

jkm7680 > diplodicus
02/17/2017 at 15:32

I said 99% of new rap is shit, I said “most”, not all rappers are criminals.

Please look up the definition of racism. There are rappers of every race who are criminals.

Rap sounds like shit. It’s all the same and it requires little to no talent.

diplodicus > jkm7680
02/17/2017 at 16:22

It sounds like shit isn’t a valid criticism of anything, you aren’t contributing anything by making a blanket statement about an entire genre of music based on the sole fact that you do not enjoy it. Saying a lot of main stream rap is stagnate because so many rappers try to copy Migos flow is a valid criticism. Because just like with any genre of music when one person has success doing something unique, others will copy it to try and profit from the trend. This happens in all forms of art, in fact it is really the entire basis of art. All artists are influenced by other art. Not all of them will make as good of art as their influence but a small percentage will. Even if an artist makes music that is a blatant copy writing it off as shit, or a farting in a microphone would sound better is completely disrespectful to the work that person has put it. If you actually attempted to rap a song word for word I think you would see that rapping does indeed require talent like breathe control, rhythm, enunciation, wordplay. I really don’t care if you like rap but you’re arguments against it are weak.

jkm7680 > diplodicus
02/17/2017 at 17:31

I’m just saying I could fart into a microphone and produce music of a similar caliber as Young Thug.