{"id":3836,"date":"2016-05-23T18:43:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T02:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=3836"},"modified":"2016-05-23T18:43:59","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T02:43:59","slug":"back-chance-rappers-latest-shines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/back-chance-rappers-latest-shines\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAnd we back:\u201d Chance the Rapper\u2019s latest shines"},"content":{"rendered":"
By: Declan Hertel\r\nEntertainment Editor<\/pre>\n
I gotta cut right to the chase: Chance the Rapper\u2019s third and most recent release, \u201cColoring Book\u201d (also known to fans as \u201cChance 3\u201d), is really good. Like, really, \"Screenreally good.<\/p>\n
I heard his 2013 mixtape, \u201cAcid Rap,\u201d for the first time about two years after it came out, and I really dug it, but I didn\u2019t really start to pay attention to Chance until his just-about-perfect verse on Kanye West\u2019s \u201cUltralight Beam,\u201d the opening track on \u201cThe Life of Pablo\u201d (review at wou.edu\/westernjournal).<\/p>\n
His verse caught my attention like no other, and I soon after went back to \u201cAcid Rap.\u201d Before I had dug it, but now I felt like I got it. Chance is different, in a way he states perfectly in the first verse of CB\u2019s \u201cBlessings:\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t make songs for free, I make \u2018em for freedom \/ don\u2019t believe in kings, believe in the kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t even know where to begin talking about this mixtape, so the beginning will work: I don\u2019t want to proclaim a trend too early\u2014two is hardly a pattern\u2014but with \u201cThe Life of Pablo\u201d and \u201cColoring Book,\u201d hip-hop and gospel music have found themselves very, very happy together. But unlike Yeezy\u2019s latest, which uses its gospel influence as a plea to God to help a troubled sinner, \u201cColoring Book\u201d uses gospel to proclaim and share the glory with all who hear it.<\/p>\n
He is a man blessed with unbelievable success, including getting to work closely with Kanye West, the man who inspired him to become a rapper, and who provides the hook on \u201cAll We Got,\u201d the first cut on \u201cColoring Book.\u201d The record has all kinds of high profile features (Lil Wayne, Justin Bieber, and T-Pain, to name a few), with several songs underscored with triumphant horns and choirs. Throughout the 14 tracks, Chance is not only celebrating his success, but is eternally grateful for it, and wants to share it.<\/p>\n
What makes Chance and \u201cColoring Book\u201d great is his ultimately positive message. He\u2019s not glamorizing a destructive lifestyle or constantly firing off shots at other artists: his music is all about making the best of everything, counting your blessings, and always being humble and grateful. From touching laments about growing apart like \u201cSame Drugs\u201d to honestly talking about how hard it is to find success in \u201cAll We Got,\u201d Chance ultimately lays out a message that says if you stay strong and determined you can accomplish what you want and get through what\u2019s got you down. Even as he raps about his problems, there\u2019s nothing underneath but love and a forward looking attitude.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it seems that \u201cColoring Book\u201d has been removed from DatPiff.com, where it was originally released as a free download. But if you\u2019ve got Apple Music you can listen to it there, and since he released it for free, if you want to torrent it or just listen on YouTube, you ought to do that guilt free.<\/p>\n
Contact the author at dhertel11@wou.edu or on Twitter @JournalFunTimes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I gotta cut right to the chase: Chance the Rapper\u2019s third and most recent release, \u201cColoring Book\u201d (also known to fans as \u201cChance 3\u201d), is really good. Like, really, really good. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":825,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/825"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}