give it a CHANCE

I had a hard time trying to decide how I was going to get started with this blog. Do we discuss the basic badness of our bodacious Beyoncé? Or do I take you down the road less traveled and look at some of this generations greatest throwbacks? While I was struggling to decide, I accidentally discovered the greatest song this year and it doesn’t have a name.

Chance the Rapper was supposed to play his new song “Grown Ass Kid” on Sept. 26, 2017, on The Late Show with Stephan Colbert. But for reasons he didn’t want to share, he couldn’t play it. So, 48 hours before the Stephan Colbert show he wrote a new, nameless, song and it was groundbreaking.

 

Chance performs his new song with Daniel Ceaser on Sept. 26, 2017, on the Late Show with Stephan Colbert.

 

The camera zooms in on a guitar, the background is dark, and the tone immediately feels more relaxed. This is really different because typically you don’t feel this tone in most rapper’s performances and if you do it’s backed up by fast raps with a lot of passion. A great example of this is Logic’s song 1-800-273-8255 which is about suicide prevention. Logic’s song has a more intense feeling to it but lyrics are harder and faster. Chance’s song, on the other hand, is a slow rap which is unique and hard to find. I wanted to make a Pandora playlist of these type of “soft jams” and there was just nothing like what Chance does. I guess that’s what makes him so great.

 

Chance and Kinsli celebrate his 24th birthday.

 

The whole song capitalizes on his feelings about missing his daughter and his old life. His lyrics inspire listeners to want to make the world a better place (as cliché as that sounds). He touches on issues that we often turn our heads the other way about. The Flint water crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement are just a few of those issues he touches on.  Chance has recently shown a softer side of himself that gives us a greater understanding of his humble attitude and his compassion toward the world. This song, however, doesn’t just further that understanding but it creates an entirely different way of thinking about an artist who has earned his spot in stardom but may not even want it.

I think a lot of the reason why this song is so powerful is that he made it in 48 hours. He didn’t have time to make up rhetoric or to decide what was in trend or to survey the population to see what the world wants from his music. No, this was Chance sharing his feelings at an intimate level. All the things he’s been wanting to say finally having an opportunity to break through. And we all can relate.

So, give it a listen. Dim your lights, grab a glass of your favorite wine (Satek Winery Mango Moscato if you’re feeling fancy), and relax. Hopefully, you too will be inspired by his rhythms and rhymes.