"He said let’s do a good ass job with Chance 3 / I hear you gotta sell it to snatch a Grammy / Let’s make it so free and the bars so hard / That there ain’t one gosh darn part you can’t tweet," raps Chance on his song with Kanye West titled "Ultralight Beam". Chance fans have fulfilled his wish by successfully tweeting every single line from his long awaited Chance 3 mixtape Coloring Book, proving to the rapper, and the world, that this piece of work is truly something special. But why so? From the vibrant and visual album art (thanks to Brandon Breaux), to the amount of artist features the track list contains, it's no surprise that Coloring Book soured to the top of the charts and made history by becoming the first streaming-exclusive album to chart on the Billboard 200. While this album as a whole is an artistic masterpiece, it's the themes present within the songs that make it stand out from the crowd.
Chance embodies what it means to truly "color outside of the lines" by bringing a new wave of music to the hip hop scene. These are some of the major themes at work in his latest, (and possibly greatest) mixtape:
1. The Gospel. It's not rare for a rapper to boast of their love for the Lord and the gospel, but to practically dedicate an entire album to the gospel? That, is rare. Chance has never been one to hide his Christian beliefs from the public eye, but with Coloring Book we got a true look into the rappers faith. Without even having to listen to anything, it's apparent that God is at the forefront of this mixtape, with song titles like "Blessings", "Angels" and "How Great". But the gospel vision Chance had in mind goes further than song titles...
Chance's album has been getting labeled as "the new wave gospel" and the gospel album that Kanye's The Life Of Pablo attempted to deliver. But what did Chance have in mind for the portrayal of God on his latest piece? In a recent article with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, Chance tells Zane,
"That’s the whole process of this thing, it’s like putting God back in our hands in everyday life..." he says, "I never really set out to make anything that could pretend to be new gospel or pretend to be the gospel, It’s just music from me as a Christian man."
Listen to the full interview here.
The album opens up with a song called, "All We Got" featuring not only Kanye West, but the Chicago Children's Choir as well, and sets the tone for the rest of the album, which brings an overall gospel/church choir feel to listeners.
Chance used the technique of God and gospel references in the intro of many of the songs, to bring the listeners attention to Him. In "Summer Friends" Francis & The Lights introduce the song with a hook that goes, "Oh, oh, oh, incredible / My Lord... incredible / I believe." Then, in "Blessings" Jamila Woods and Chance sing the intro in unison, "... I'm gon' priase Him, praise Him 'til I'm gone / When the praises go up, the blessings come down..."
But Chance isn't done there. His greatest attribute to the gospel comes on track #11 titled "How Great." This song features Jay Electronica, Chance's cousin Nicole and the Chicago Children's Choir. Nicole covers Chris Tomlin’s "How Great Is Our God" in the intro, and Chance, Jay and the Chicago Children's Choir stick to the same theme throughout the remaining 2 and half minutes.
While listening to this album, fans are praising God with or without even realizing it. For a rapper to be able to create an album dedicated to the gospel, while still making fans of all religious backgrounds fall in love with it, and to do it well, isn't an easy job. But Chance proved to be up to the challenge, and he truly suceeded.
"But I think the new generation and the forward is all about freedom and all about the ability to do what we want. We're not free unless we can talk about God" - Chance in Beats 1 Radio Interview
2. Family Values. Without even having to dive into the lyrcis, the aspect of family value is apparent in the album cover art. In a recent interview featured on Pigeons and Planes with Brandon Breaux, the artist behind Chance's mixtape cover art, Brandon explains the inspiration behind Coloring Book's album art:
"When we took the photo, he was holding his daughter. He was looking down at his daughter. And that was his concept, his idea. Chance wanted to capture the expression on his face when he looked at his daughter. It’s this picture of the future being bigger than himself. It’s not just about him, it’s about family. He’s looking down at the future in a way."
The birth of Chances first daughter with his girlfriend this past September led to a new aspect of Chance's sound: love. In the first song on the album titled "All We Got", Chance raps, "Man my daughter couldn't have her a better mother / If she ever find another, he better love her." In "Blessings" he also references to his girlfriend and daughter again, saying, "I know the difference in blessings and worldy posessions / Like my ex girl getting pregnant and her becoming my everyhing."
3. Community. It's not too hard to figure out that Chance is a Chicago native, from the Chicago White Sox hats he can be seen wearing very frequently, (he also partnered with New Era to redesign his own line), to the many mentions of Chicago in his lyrics. Chance continued to show his love for Chicago by also featuring The Chicago Children's Choir on this album as well.
In "Angels" Chance shout outs his Chicago roots, in both his lyrics and the music video. The video, which was released April 7th, 2016, shows scenes from a Chicago subway train and South LaSalle Street. Chance is dressed as “Flyboy” in the video, a popular character designed by Chicago artist Hebru Brantley who is a well known chicago muralist.
Following the debut of his album, Chance threw a "surprise" release party for Chicago fans. He grouped busses of fans to an undisclosed warehouse location with Coloring Book and childlike carnival references, while his album played throughout it's entirety in the background of all of the fun.
Chance, thank you for bringing to light, many important aspects of our everyday lives that many rappers and musicians fail to do. Chicago, and the rest of the world, can't wait to see what you have in store for us next.
"At the end of the day, music is all we got" - Chance The Rapper featuring Chicago Children's Choir & Kanye West (All We Got)
