Chance the Rapper has recently got
married. I know this because the Chicago rapper only happens to mention it one
thousand times on his new album (which, by the way, is apparently his ‘debut’
album. What the hell have I been reviewing???).
I can’t say I’ve ever listened to
a wedding-themed hip hop album before until now. In some ways, it’s refreshing
to hear a rapper promoting commitment instead of sleeping around (in fact, there’s even an entire track dedicated to dissing
side-chicks). The problem is that, in focusing so hard on the wonders of
marriage, Chance ends up going the opposite way and creating an album that’s
often far too soppy (the opening lines of ‘Let’s Go On The Run’ are absolutely
nauseating).
Almost all 22 tracks of this album
feature at least one bar about how crazily in love he is with his wife. I’m
happy for Chance, but the PDA swiftly gets pukeworthy. He
does spare one song ‘We Go High’ to talk about the turbulence of marriage,
which makes for much more interesting and relatable listening. There’s some
great wordplay in this song too including my favourite line ‘diamonds make
pressure’. Were it not for the painfully croaky falsettos at the beginning, it could
have been my favourite track.
Which leads to another problem
with this album – Chance seems intent on sabotaging half of the songs on this
album either through his goofy vocal delivery, a horrible guest feature or some
banally dumb lyrics. It’s frustrating, because without these small details, most
of these songs would actually sound pretty good.
Title track ‘The Big Day’ is a
great example with its experimental slow-building production, but then some
dude called Francis and The Lights turns up and starts angrily yelling over the
track. It’s a happy song about his wedding day – why is there scary yelling?
Meanwhile, ‘5 Year Plan’ starts with some great bars from Chance about the
hardship of setting life goals - but then Randy Newman enters the track and
starts dementedly bellowing ‘tiiime is coming’. And then of course there’s
‘Get a Bag’, featuring one of the most fun beats on the record, but completely
squandered by the lyrics which are literally just ‘get a baaaag!’ yelled
over and over again like some crazed supermarket checkout worker.
Fortunately, there are some
diamonds in the rough. Opening track ‘All Day Long’ has some enjoyably
bombastic production and reliably strong singing from John Legend, even if the
puns are a bit weird: ‘my next tour got eight legs like daddy long’. ‘Big
Fish’ meanwhile is an undeniably fun banger with a decent Gucci Mane verse and
a catchy hook (it also refrains from being cartoonishly annoying like ‘Hot Shower’).
One thing that cannot be faulted
is this album’s production and Chance’s flow – both of which are incredibly
tight throughout the record. Unfortunately, it’s the small little details peppered
throughout the tracks that ruin it, as well as the repetitive soppy lyrics about
his wife and wedding that go on like a bad neverending best man’s speech.
★★☆☆☆