A new jam from the Grammy winner was a very welcome surprise.
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LISTEN, PLAYBACK, REPEAT: Admittedly, I was a little late to the Chance the Rapper underground game. But after his major breakthrough at this year’s Grammy Awards, where his album, Coloring Book, scored three awards—including the coveted Best New Artist mantle—there was no way this musical poet could be ignored. Chance’s first wins also represented a first for the Grammys: Thanks to a change in eligibility rules this year, he became the only artist to take home a golden gramophone for music that streamed exclusively (read: no vinyls or CDs here), which the innovator released for free(!). So, add all of that to his immense talent and being a born-and-bred Chicagoan (have to represent for my new home city!), and getting on the Chance the Rapper bandwagon was 100% happening.
FOR THE RECORD: Chance was scheduled to be on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this past Monday night and perform a previously unreleased song from Coloring Book. Instead, after a chat with the host about politics, legislation and his non-profit work, the rap master revealed that he was going to serve up a new, untitled song that he wrote…. on Saturday. Yup, that’s right: TWO DAYS BEFORE. Ya know, just a little ditty that he whipped up that happened to have all the power of music most would work on for a year and still not hit the heights of. It was midnight, and I had been genius’d by Chance the Rapper.
THE FINAL SPIN: While the song isn’t exactly the highly anticipated new album everyone is clamoring for, consider it a musical appetizer to tide you over. And if this beautiful and deeply reflective one-off is any indication of what’s to come, there’s a real Chance this Rapper is about to get even bigger.
Check out Chance the Rapper’s performance on Colbert below.