Chance The Rapper was a major part of my #1 album of 2015, Surf by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment and needless to say, with a growing musical presence across many genres (Justin Bieber songs, Kanye West's new record being heavily influenced by him and multiple appearances on various NBC staples like the Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live), the hype surrounding him is larger than that of any artist in 2016 not named Beyonce'. 2016 has been an insane year for music and has proven that the art form is only getting stronger with more material being released each year. We are in the golden era of music and always will be (stop reflecting and just enjoy what's out there and around you today!). With Chance The Rapper (real name: Chance Bennett) dropping his third mixtape, Coloring Book, late Thursday night, I figured it was time for instant reactions because it kind of worked the first time based on reaction (I don't know why, it was so scatter-brained). Without further ado, here are my thoughts on each track as I give each a first listen.
1. "All We Got" ft. Kanye West and Chicago's Childrens Choir - Loved everything about this, especially Donnie "MVP" Trumpet and then Kanye's autotune kicked in and it felt like I lost a year of hearing thanks to the volume being turned up on me without warning. After getting adjusted to it, this is basically a "WAKE UP THE ALBUM HAS STARTED AND IT IS EPIC" track. Not mastered perfectly but, that doesn't seem to matter by the end. This will grow on me, as will much of the album, I'm sure. A
2. "No Problem" ft. Lil' Wayne and 2 Chainz - The choir samples are working well much like early Kanye work. Autotuned Chance works. Oh... 2 Chainz. This is the track everyone was talking about this morning. 2 Chainz verse went exactly as expected (mediocre). Now Lil Wayne is here. Great job by Chance getting people I'm sure he's idolized and probably adding hype to the five people that are still hyped to listen to Wayne and Chainz in 2016 (that's a diss-take). The choir is overpowering Wayne's autotune and it's distracting. Autotune Chance's "You don't want no problem with me" got better somehow as the song went on. B
3. "Summer Friends" ft. Jeremih and Francis & The Lights - Holy shit, is this Bon Iver? (looks it up) Nope, I guess not. Well this is a splendid opening and now there's a 1980's Mario Kart-type sample in the background. LOVE IT, LONG LIVE THE 8-BIT. Chance is much gentler on this song while not-Bon Iver sings in the background. This song commands me to pay closer attention to the lyrics than the previous two songs. I see that Jeremih is on this track and ohh... there he is. Wait... Where is Jeremih? I heard him back there saying one word and now there are three different sounds going on, none of which appear to involve Jeremih. Spoken Word. There's Jeremih! Man, it's been 7 years since "Birthday Sex"? That's crazy. His part is short here and transitions into a violin somehow. A
4. "D.R.A.M. Sings (Special)" - D.R.A.M. singing is not something I thought I would enjoy. Backup vocals kicking in were necessary here for full effect. The producer of this album is listed as Zach Firtel. He's the real MVP. Outro organ for the win. B+
5. "Blessings" ft. Jamila Woods - JAMILA! YES! This is "Blessings", previously heard on the Tonight Show last Thursday. 30 seconds in and this is already better than the live performance and a clear highlight. More organ playing! Piano as well. Chicago is ridiculously present on this track. The chorus is excellent but, I could do without the cartoonish voice going "GOOD GOD!". Autotuned Chance makes an appearance near the end. A+
6. "Same Drugs" - Piano intro. We don't do the same drugs no more because she don't do the same drugs no more. 21st century love songs are different from 20th century love songs. This entire album is quite orchestral. I love that. This song is a bit more repetitive than anything else up to this point. Distorted talking? Chance is so optimistic, it's contagious. A little bit of a guitar to top it all off. Not feeling this as much as 1 through 5. C
7. "Mixtape" ft. Young Thug and Lil' Yachty - No Chance, plenty of people care about mixtapes but the Grammy's clearly don't (THEY REALLY SHOULD). Trapppppp beeeeeeats. With the rainy background, this is the song that paints the most vivid picture with both production and lyrics. THUGGER! Young Thug is welcome on any track until we get tired of him. He could literally screech over Johnny Cash's "Hurt" and I would enjoy it. Chris Paul lyric I missed. Oh well, I'll catch it on the rebound (unlike Chris Paul). Lil Yachty is two years younger than me... I really need to meet Kanye. Yachty sounds like Makonnen. I'll be honest, I don't have much knowledge on Yachty other than I saw him at Kanye's latest fashion show. Good artists introduce you to other artists, it's a proven fact. B+
8. "Angels" ft. Saba - Angels is already in contention for the end of the year top 40 songs list (Spoiler alert but not really). It's just a beautiful song that would have fit perfectly on Surf. Caribbean vibes, Saba singing. It's all great. A+
9. "Juke Jam" ft. Justin Bieber and Towkio - This song is supposed to feature Bieber? I have no idea how that might even sound. Sidenote: His last album was dope and don't let anyone tell you differently. This is starting off sounding like a pop ballad of sorts. Towkio is the first voice we hear that isn't Chance and he has a strange voice for the song. Bieber just kicked in and it's pretty heavenly. All this talk of rinks has me reminiscing on Skate City. I haven't been there in 12 years. My life is dull. Anywho, there was some line about Chris Brown that I missed. Very chill vibes, might spark some sexytime. A-
10. "All Night" ft. Knox Fortune - THIS BEAT. OH SHIT. I want this song to intro me the next time I'm playing basketball. Speaking of roller rinks, this song is fucking perfect for that atmosphere. Party song. Love it. Chance's flow is at it's best here. Trumpets are back and at their peak as well by the end. A+
11. "How Great" ft. Jay Electronica and My cousin Nicole - Back to those gospel feels. Wait... Featuring Jay Electronica and "My cousin Nicole"? The choir has not sounded better with the distorted vocals in the background. I feel like a lot of the earlier gospel vibes early on were building up to this part. I'm assuming the voice that is standing out among the choir is that of Chance's cousin Nicole. This family is freakishly talented. Chance finally kicks in and starts off with an angrier voice to nail home the lyrics. Skullduggery? Chance is the greatest at digging words out of the dictionary and throwing them into a song. 3-second silence break transitions into Jay Electronica. Biblical references are a-plenty in case that wasn't going to be obvious with all the choirs. A
12. "Smoke Break" ft. Future - More autotuned Chance and I still don't hate it. (Take notes, Drake). The production with the deep keyboard playing is great. HORNS. This sounds like Hudson Mohawke may have been involved. Nevermind, he's not. This is another song that might spark some sexytime. It sounds like he's saying "WEEEEEZER" but I don't even think he's heard Pinkerton no matter how eclectic his taste in music is. Again, I have to check these lyrics again later. I don't like Future tracks but I DO like Future featured tracks. It's complicated. B+
13. "Finish Line/Drown" ft. T-Pain, Kirk Franklin, Eryn Allen Kane and Noname - 7 minutes + 4 guests and one of them is Eryn Allen Kane (another Surf MVP). Hogtied and dog died are rhymed and it works. The choir has returned. T-PAIN! THIS IS T-PAIN'S FINEST MUSICAL MOMENT! This is the finest gospel track of all the kind of/sort of/maybe gospel tracks on the mixtape. Some saxophone mixed in with all of the other jazzy things going on as well. Two part songs confuse me but, I get this one with the second part being a poetic rap (isn't all rap poetry? Don't overthink this, Andy) by Noname. Does Chance just have a choir following him at all times of the day? Now, Kirk Franklin is preaching to me and it's just so refreshing much like the entire mixtape. Does Chance hold the musical artistry title-belt right now? Badumpadumdum? Seinfeld? A
14. "Blessings" - Last song :(. Broadway Joe Namath reference. Dirty Projectors background singers? Noooo, it couldn't be but, it sounds just as angelic. Basically Accapella (Best attempt at spelling that without looking it up) until the clapping begins and then we are treated to some more choir singing. This sounds like a mixture of India. Arie, Erykah Badu, Dirty Projectors and R. Kelly. That's wildly specific. Every Chance record sounds like it would have been ridiculously fun to make. This sounds like the most fun song to record on the album. Long live the rapper. A
Overall Grade: A+ (Might change with further listens)
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