In terms of mood, Chance the Rapper kicks off his new mixtape, ‘Coloring Book’, by immediately picking up where he left off on his breakout project, ‘Acid Rap’. After rounding that outing off with the triumphant Everything’s Good, Chance returns here with the same sincere enthusiasm.
On track one, All We Got, he declares: “We back, this ain’t no intro, this the entrée.” But if ‘Acid Rap’ was a taster, this is the main course. For Chance, the fact that he’s arrived as an artist is cause for celebration and it’s a message that ‘Coloring Book’ reinforces throughout.
His relentless positivity is a key reason for his appeal. The mainstream is packed with rappers referencing tough upbringings while simultaneously bragging about their newfound wealth, where Chance appears grateful and regularly alludes to his blessings without feeling the need to boast.
His charming character and childlike vocal delivery partly explain why this feels so genuine, but it’s the mixtape’s overwhelming gospel influences that make the message so dramatically powerful.
Even committed atheists will find themselves touched by tracks like Blessings (“Are you ready for your blessings?”) and the lullaby-esque interlude D.R.A.M Sings Special (“You are very special, everyone is special.”). Whether you have a church background or not, there’s a fuzzy nostalgia to the whole tape.
Even the tracks that deal with upsetting topics are given a warm treatment. Summer Friends appears to be about losing touch with friends from his youth at first (“Summer friends don’t stay...”) but it ultimately deals with the tragic experience of seeing people die in inner city Chicago. The echoed vocal melodies that drift in and out only make the pain more palpable.
Chance also reflects on growing up in Chicago on Same Drugs and Angels, with various lines reiterating his love and attachment to the city. In spite of his recently found fame, he is still at his best and most passionate when delivering verses about home. His flows are more creative, his lyrics have more depth and his vocals are more animated.
Perhaps that’s why the weakest cuts on the record tend to be the features. The southern-flavoured Mixtape is the worst offender as Chance is practically anonymous alongside Youth Thug and Lil Yachty. He doesn’t sound particularly enthused when teamed with Justin Bieber on Juke Jam either, which turns out to be far more lifeless than the title suggests.
That’s not to say Chance is incapable of a successful collaboration. If anything, he raises his game on How Great, probably because he actually goes toe-to-toe with a worthy emcee in Jay Electronica. It highlights the importance of Chance working with artists who are in the same headspace as opposed to assorted guest stars.
He certainly sounds like a giddy kid when working with his hero, Kanye West, on All We Got, something he later acknowledges: “Kanye’s best prodigy, he ain’t signed me but he proud of me.” Judging by the deafening double tracking on Kanye’s vocals, he was just a tad overzealous.
Much like ‘Surf’, his recent LP with Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment, who handle production duties on several tracks here, mixing is again often a problem. If Chance is to take the plunge and release a proper full-blown album then it’s something he’ll need to work on.
His unbridled enthusiasm, though, makes ‘Coloring Book’ a joy to listen to. It’s painfully obvious which tracks simply don’t fit the tone of the record, but they only serve to highlight the segments that undeniably work, namely the ones where Chance takes it to church.
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