Wikipedia Genre: Rap, hip hop
Spotify Says Similar To: Vic Mensa and Ab-Soul
Home: Chicago
Poster Position: 1
Slot: ?
Thoughts: Chance has some good stuff. I've talked about him on multiple occasions, and I've had varied opinions about him in the past. Here is my preview when he came to ACL in 2015, in which I liked his first mixtape but was a little unsure. Here is my review of the first weekend show from 2015, in which I was not especially impressed. Here is my review of the second weekend show from 2015, in which I was again not especially impressed (but saw a drug deal). But then his new mixtape came out and I liked it despite those old feelings. So I guess I'm conflicted on him. Although, I have a feeling that if I really swallowed his music and was able to shout along and jump around in the crowd at the show, that would make it a bigger and better deal to see him in the fall. Go read all of that stuff if you want some background and to hear some other songs.
Here is an old track from Acid Rap for you to listen to while I talk some more.
One problem for you, gentle reader, is that only one of his mixtapes is available on Spotify (2016's Coloring Book), so you can't go back to the cool Acid Rap that originally put him on the map in 2013. That mixtape was one of the first things I ever discovered on DatPiff, back when I felt like I needed to own everything I listened to, before I understood the glories of streaming. But that is one of the interesting things about Chance - he doesn't release his albums in the traditional way. All of his music is just available to hear or download for free online, but you cannot go into your local record store and buy a copy to play in your car. Check the Amazon page for his music. And yet he's been a massive critical success. He won three Grammy awards for Coloring Book, which was apparently the first album to get nominated for a Grammy that was a solely streaming album. On top of that, despite the unorthodox methods, he has made a bunch of money to go with that success. He just recently gave Chicago's public schools a million bucks in trying to kick start a solution to the funding shortfall up there.
Anyway, if you want to hear stuff from Acid Rap, you'll either have to go download the mixtape or hit up YouTube. Your move, buddy.
One thing that I wish about Coloring Book is that it depended less on guest verses. He gets bars from Kanye, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Young Thug, DRAM, Lil Yachty, Justin Bieber, Future, T-Pain, Jeremih, Anderson.Paak, and many others. I wish he just stuck with himself and dropped most of that baggage off of the album - like the obvious hit on here, "No Problems," which would be significantly better without 2 Chainz on it. And "Summer Friends" is annoying because of the Francis & the Lights portion that sounds like Bon Iver. But then a track like "How Great" comes on, and if I suppress the cynical side of myself and just relish the sound of it, even with the guests, and I actually enjoy the gospel joy of the track. And that is the fun of this album, the joyous, bouncing, happy tracks, like "No Problems," "Angels," and "All Night." The unfortunate tracks are plodding ones like "Juke Jam."
I've just spent two full, long days listening to nothing other than Coloring Book, and it is really good. I'd enjoy going to this show and giving him another chance.
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