Instead of the typical pseudo-definitive ranking of the “Best Albums of 2016,” this December we’re trying something different. The Rutgers Review is bringing you 31 days of our writers’ favorite albums this year, from internationally anticipated releases to local debuts to a few guilty pleasures, without caring what critics have had to say.
On a feature for Kanye West’s “Ultralight Beam” Chance the Rapper announced that he was going to do a “good ass job with Chance three,” and just weeks after Drake’s Views dropped, he came up good on his promise and dropped his mixtape, Coloring Book. It was free, and more importantly, it was good as hell. Rated highly on many year-end lists, Chance the Rapper proved that he has all that it takes to take over the hip-hop game. He effectively altered the trajectory of award ceremonies by forcing the Grammy’s to consider Coloring Book and other streamed albums for an award. He holds open mics for kids in Chicago, and he won the “Outstanding Youth of the Year Award” in 2014.
Chance the Rapper is the artist we need, especially after the admittedly depressing Views. Coloring Book is highlighted by up-tempo bops like “No Problem,” which features a do-no-wrong 2 Chainz and a pissed off Lil Wayne, and “Angels” which features the angelically voiced Saba. Mixed with glorified gospel samples, Chance does not sacrifice any fun in favor for prayer. Reminding us that God is good in songs like “Blessings” (“Good God!” he yelps in typical Chance fashion) and “Angels,” he still shows that he has a variety of personalities in songs like “Mixtape.” He recruits up-and-comer Lil Yachty and one of the hottest trap rappers in the game, Young Thug, to satiate the ears of the trendiest listeners. Chance the Rapper shows us he can do it all when he lowers his voice and fluidly slurs his words à la Future in the chorus of “Mixtape.” Feeling like an underdog who has finally actualized his rap career, he drawls, “bad little bitch wants to know how the lips taste,” because his luck with women just got that much better. Chance the Rapper is finally here, and he’s here to stay.
Coloring Book is aptly named. It is a colored sample of a number of flavors that are prevalent in contemporary rap: Chance sings, he traps, he preaches, and he gets super petty in “All Night” when he screams to all his fake friends trying to get a ride from him on a drunken night, “is you is or is you ain’t got gas money/No IOUs or debit cards I need cash money.” I loved Coloring Book. It picked me up from the melodrama of Views and brought me up into a heavenly stratosphere. I am willing to bet that other listeners could voice the same feeling. We really have to thank Chance for this one because he really did do a good-ass job with it.
by: Dhairya Bhatia