Chance the Rapper and Kane West have outdone themselves with the release of ‘Coloring Book’ and ‘The Life of Pablo’ respectively. Both the Chance’s mixtape and Kanye’s album share a couple things in common, the both feature each other in the first song and both have a strong gospel feel in them. Now the differences between these two pieces of work is that Kanye really lets you into his life. His songs FML, Wolves, and Highlight are a couple of songs that really go into his life. Where Chance differs is he really embraced the gospel feel in his mixtape. In Ultralight Beam Chance mentions some advice he received from Kanye West, to do a "good-ass job on Chance 3 (Coloring Book)" and "I hear you gotta sell it to snatch the Grammy." The latter of the two comes in play were Kanye told Chance he would have to sell himself if he ever want to win a Grammy.

Now that the background information about these two pieces is laid, Kanye West and Chance the Rapper have laid the groundwork to change the atmosphere of Christian Rap. You may be familiar with some of the more known Christian rappers Lecrae, Trip Lee, and Da' T.R.U.T.H. They can be labeled as pioneers for the Christian rap movement, but Chance just took it to a new level. They way Christian rap has been portrayed by me is a fast-paced old-school type feel from the 90s. These rappers are preaching the Christian word through a way that our current young black population can understand, but they stop at that point. Chance and Kanye reach a larger audience because they use both regular hip hop and Christian rap in their works. When you think about Chance the Rapper, you usually associate him with Acid Rap, the mixtape he created while on acid. And even before that, his first mixtape was called 10 Day, which he created while suspended from high school for 10 days. Kanye's name itself speaks for him. From his time with Jay Z when he made The College Dropout, Kanye has been mainstream.

When looking at the current list of modern gospel rappers, they have never ventured out of the genre, besides taking samples from popular hip hop songs and using them to spread their message. Chance actually did the complete opposite, he took popular gospel and used them to rap on which isn't something that many people do, if anyone has even done it. Although I speak so much about Chance, there is no Chance without the influence of Kanye. Kanye's Jesus Walks and Through the Wire definitely feel as if they have influenced Chance the Rapper from my perspective. And his 808 and Heartbreak, where he spent the whole album singing rather than rapping, also seems to have an effect on Chance's style of music.

Now after just a couple of songs and a mixtape, I'm not ready to proclaim Chance the Rapper as the king of Christian Rap, I feel that title has yet to be bestowed on anyone, but the way Chance has changed the game from just one mixtape, he is putting a claim to the title.