Album of the Week: Chance the Rapper, 'The Big Day'
by David Safar
July 29, 2019
After building on three years of mix tape releases following the breakout success of Coloring Book, Chance the Rapper made headlines on his big release day of The Big Day after the music was nowhere to be found following a hometown album release party. The delay was somewhat predictable as the Chicago rapper has been known to map out his own future. I like to think that the artist and entrepreneur wanted to hit publish from his phone when the moment inspired him, and lucky for his fans, The Big Day lives up to all the hype. The album is 22 songs of Chance's genius at work along with an impressive list of credits spanning from Nicki Minaj to Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Coco Rosie to Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.
Described as his "debut studio album", The Big Day is distinct from Chance the Rapper's mixtapes in its production, but still has the same personal themes of positivity and independence. You immediately recognize the blend of Midwest rap meets church sounds between the backing choir voices and skits between the songs.
Possibly the most quintessential Chance song on the album is "5 Year Plan" which features Randy Newman. He raps about life and career goals with the same sincerity as his true debut, the "10 Day" mixtape. It's also worth noting that the Grammy award winning rapper maintains his streak of being self-released, and while he pulls in some major star power, includes Surf collaborators, The Social Experiment.
Chance the Rapper's new album is out now.
