MUSIC | Chance The Rapper's - Coloring Book

What it do Creatives?! Happy Summer!!

"When the praises go up, blessings come down!" repeatedly sung in the hook of  'Blessings', in Chance the Rapper's newest project Coloring Book. Now, on Coloring Book, Chance takes us to church and uses the word of God as his guide. The first glimpse of this new focus came on the The Life of Pablo cut "Ultralight Beam", as the younger Chicago rapper raised a preacher's sermon at the pulpit: "This little light of mine, glory be to God."

Now, if you are expecting a straightforward "hip-hop" album with smoldering, pop-off verses, it might not be your cup of teas. Coloring Book is a gospel album that fuses hip-hop, spoken word, soul, jazz and funk. As soon as you press play in "All We Got", you want to clench your hands, close your eyes and pray, "I get my word from the sermon, I do not talk to the serpent, That's the holistic discernment." Chance brings us to the pews during Sunday service, gloraaaaayyyy! The languorous percussion, bluesy horn and lamenting organs ponder as Chance sings in high praise. Is it safe to say that Coloring Book is one of the strongest rap albums released this year? It is an uplifting mix of spiritual and grounded that even an atheist can catch the Spirit to. Coloring book features and samples from "Blessings", "Finish Line/Drown", "How Great is Our God", making everything much more explicit.

While Coloring Book successfully channels the musical conventions of the Black church tradition without sounding dated or hodgepodge-y, the album also subtly chronicles black history and uses it as inspiration for artistic freedom. His reference of slavery to Nate Turner in "How Great" and "Blessings" posits a parallel between slavery and the music industry. Being an independent artist, Chance's success is full his own.

Amidst the heavenly imagery, Coloring Book is optimistic even in the face of lingering pain and the dark realities of his hometown -Chicago. In “Summer Friends” a bleak picture is painted of the violence rates that raise with the temperature in Chicago, destroying childlike innocence. However, serving as a stark antithesis to the drill movement, Chance’s gospel worship doesn’t seek to hold a mirror to the daily horrors of Chicago, but instead to uplift, empower, and heal its people.

Just as faith has offered Chance redemption and resilience, he plans to alleviate the collective trauma that plagues his city. As a first step, the album brings together a community of friends and family.This project is rooted in camaraderie, a radiant pedestal not only for himself but the burgeoning talent of the city. Coloring Book is for his home: “I got my city doing front flips/ When every father, mayor, rapper jump ship,” he raps on the show-stopping "Angels."

Chance has strong messages on Coloring Book, but does not couch them in signifiers of conscious rap or bygone eras that are often citied as golden alternatives to the perceived nihilism violence and drug references in today's music. I have to admit I have not listened to his previous mixtapes Acid Rap and 10 Days. Nonetheless, Coloring Book is one of the strongest rap albums released this year and is destined to be one of the strongest rap albums released this year and is destined to be on year-end aplenty. It is a more rewarding listen that Drake's recently released Views *all shade intended* it is nearly as adventurous as The Life of Pablo. In execution and focus, it comes as a joyful, praise dancing rejoinder to Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly. It feels a bit silly to compare Coloring Book to To Pimp a Butterfly, but it feels even sillier no to. When music like this personal and panoramic, full of conversations with God, defying hip-hop norms while respecting them, proving that the genre can still dig deeper into its roots; it needs to be contextualized as what it is. This is an ultralight beam; it is a God dream.

This album is really good, one can listen from top to finish without skipping tracks. Some of my favorites songs include All We Got, No Problem, Blessings, Same Drugs (the Peter Pan reference is so well executed), Mixtapes, Juke Jam, Finish Line/Drown and How Great.

Coloring Book is available for streaming on Tidal and Apple Music.

Thank you for reading and remember to stay creative!

xo, Zaddy