Chance the Rapper
Coloring Book
Whether it's by choice or just an indicator of how very, very sad the record industry has become, Chance the Rapper is still self-releasing his jaw-dropping mixtapes. I suspect it's the former, because if no one has signed this guy for...I literally can't think of a reason, but I'll sign him right now, and I don't even have a label, or money, or contacts, or recording equipment.
As if his last mixtape, Acid Rap, didn't do the job, Coloring Book is here to put other rappers on notice, that Chance is a hip-hop force to be reckoned with. And unlike Kanye's sub-par Life of Pablo, which claimed to be "a gospel album with cursing on it," but wasn't even close, Chance's third actually is.
Thematically, Coloring Book is different from anything else Chance has done. While his previous efforts included quite a few odes to drugs and doing them, his allusions here are just that--metaphors replacing drugs for relationship problems and loss. His vocals are elastic and taut, brilliantly graceful, and full of sound collages that pay homage to the art of spoken word.
Coloring Book is one of the best rap albums in recent years, easily comparable to Kendrick Lamar's brilliant To Pimp a Butterfly. But while that comparison may seem trite, know that the constant conversations with God and musings on transcendence make it impossible not to. This is the album Kanye wishes he made.
Coloring Book is available on Apple Music. You can stream it here.
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