Coloring Book is a reflection of maturity. Consider the album art to Acid Rap - the man had been twenty for a measly two weeks, and was high as hell. A lot has changed for Chancellor Bennett since 2013, including the formation of The Social Experiment band, meeting and collaborating with Kanye West, and becoming a father for the first time. Barely out of his teens on his last release, smoking and drugs were heavy subject matter for Acid Rap, (even the title referenced them) and it worked so well as it connected to audiences the same age as Chance. Now, he's been given time to grow, and the new man that he is today bubbles to the surface beautifully on Coloring Book.
Consider this more of a follow up to 2015's Surf, more than a follow up to Acid Rap. Surf (one of my favorite albums of last year, and one you can and most certainly should download for free on iTunes) wasn't technically a Chance album. Credited to the artists "Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment" it was a beautiful myriad of horns, pianos, and was so lyrically jovial and warm it felt like a celebration to collaboration and friendship. Coloring Book is similar - gospel themed, lushly produced, and brilliantly joyful. If you listen to this expecting Acid Rap 2.0, you'll be disappointed. Tracks such as 'Summer Friends', 'Blessings', 'Angels', and the second 'Blessings' all discuss the things most important to Chance, like his friendships, God, and his daughter. "I guess that's why they call it where I stay / Clean up the streets, so my daughter can have somewhere to play" he raps on 'Angels.' The first 'Blessings' is a collaboration with Jamila Woods, who sung the wonderful chorus to 'Sunday Candy' on Surf. It's all about praising God, and even a non-religious listener like myself can appreciate the infectious joy that translates in Jamila's voice and Chance's raps. "I know the difference in blessings and worldly possessions / Like my ex girl getting pregnant and her becoming my everything". That is not the 2013 Chance; it's the new and improved Chance. And there are more great songs than this. Pretty much every track, with a few exceptions, are highlights - opener 'All We Got' kicks the mixtape off with some auto-tune Kanye, and one of the best instrumentals on the project. 'Finish Line / Drown' is the staple Noname feature, and she's one of the most talented female rappers I've heard in a while. The first half, 'Finish Line' has a gorgeous instrumental - the vocalists bring the simple "do-do-do-do-do-do-do" chorus to life, full of the same delight that's been holding Coloring Book so high from the start. 'How Great' has my favourite Jay Electronica feature since PRhyme, where he uses some cute The Lion King references to allude to the subject of children. Remember, the album artwork was is a painted version of a photo of Chance holding his baby daughter. He's looking down at her in his arms, and positively beaming. Whilst the vast majority of the tape is high quality, there are a some minor exceptions. Five people appear on Coloring Book that are all capable of ruining it; Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Young Thug, Justin Bieber, & Future. However, the good news is that only two of these songs are weak, and usually its not even the guest feature that kills the song for me. Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz, recently off of their Collegrove collaborative album, appear on the track 'No Problem'. Whilst 2 Chainz doesn't deliver a verse quite as good as his '3500' feature from last year, there's no reason to have a problem with what he does here, and the same goes for Lil Wayne. Considering this is the anti-record label track, nobody has more to say than Lil Wayne does. The track 'Mixtape' with Young Thug and Lil Yachty is the weakest on Coloring Book, but this is mostly due to the bland beat and uninspired performances. 'Smoke Break' is the Future song. What would hip-hop be in 2016 if Future didn't appear on every artist's project like an over-excited kid sticking his nose in every door he can? Luckily, Chance keeps the track from lulling as bad as Future tracks can lull. Future features usually mean boring instrumentals as well, but it's a different story here; the trap hi-hat is present, but far less dominant, appearing intermittently rather than constantly. The horrible monotony that ruined 'Grammys' on Views is also avoided, to much relief. The last song that I'm not so hot on is 'All Night', due to it's boring chorus party chorus, ("All night, I been drinking all night / I been drinking all night, I been drinking, ay ay" x3) but since the track is just longer than two minutes. it's only a brief downside. Coloring Book concludes with the second 'Blessings'. Songwriting-wise, it's as simple as it gets, emphasizing on Chance's lyrics more than any other track. There are some great bars on this song. "Kanye's best prodigy / he ain't signed me but he proud of me". "I used to dance to Michael, I used to dance in high school / I used to pass out music, I still pass out music", he slowly raps with a soft laugh at the end of the line. It's wonderful. There's no doubt that Chance did a good ass job with Chance 3. Expecting an Acid Rap sequel, I was disappointed on my first listen, but it barely took 24 hours for me to realize my mistake. I was waiting for the 2016 versions 'Paranoia' and 'Acid Rain', but that isn't what Chance is anymore. He isn't riding around Chicago with his nine on his hip and his blunt on his lips - he's got his city doing front flips! 8.0/10 |
201820162015Scores0-30 = Bad
31-49 = Sub-par 50-60 = Average 61-70 = Decent 71-80 = Good 81-89 = Great 90-99 = Incredible 100 = Perfect Archives
September 2018
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