Chance The Rapper

Chance The Rapper And Vic Mensa Rap Freely In Their New Video ‘Wraith (Writing Exercise #3)’

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Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa came through with a reminder that, regardless of narratives and past missteps, when it comes to rapping they are exceptional at their craft. The Chicago wordsmiths’ recent video “Wraith (Writing Exercise #3) is two minutes and 27 seconds of unbridled lyricism, following them through a store, in the studio, and on an indoor basketball court surrounded by their crew. The record itself is produced by Smoko Ono.

Mensa takes on the first verse, clutching his dog as he talks about his mother, liars, and much more. Chance follows up, utilizing the sequential word overlay from his previous “Writing Exercise #2” as he references Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, how saving money is part of his bone marrow, and neo-colonial states. Vic Mensa returns at the end, trading his confident rap voice for a more melodic vocal tone.

Though the two rap veterans’ careers are different, the synergy here should come as no surprise as they previously collaborated on “Family,” “Shelter,” “Suitcase,” “Taxi Cab,” and various other tracks. “Wraith (Writing Exercise #3)” follows Chance The Rapper’s “Child of God” single released back in March. Mensa appeared on “Just The Same” alongside Big Gigantic and Mick Jenkins which came out earlier this week.

Chance The Rapper Returns To ‘Colbert’ With An Artful Performance Of ‘Child Of God’

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Back in 2017, Chance The Rapper debuted his song “First World Problems” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, marking one of the Chicago MC’s most renowned live performances. To this day, he still hasn’t given the song an official release, but that hasn’t stopped fans from ripping and reuploading it due to its popularity in his catalog. Fortunately, they won’t have to do as much work now that he’s returned to Colbert, which he did last night with an artful rendition of his newly released single “Child Of God.”

Chance performs the song with an orchestra, blowing out the stripped-down, mellow production to include a passionate crescendo as he delivers the uplifting lyrics. Speaking of those lyrics, in true Chance The Rapper fashion, the song’s heartfelt text appears on the screen as it has in many of his recent music videos such as “The Heart And The Tongue.” It’s actually been a pretty flourishing trend among other independent rappers like Kota The Friend and Tobe Nwigwe, and it’s pretty cool that they’ve found a way to combine the best of both worlds, mashing up the lyrics videos that often accompany new single releases with their creative visuals. In addition, he highlighted Naila Opiangah, the emerging artist who created the painting in the background of the performance, by bringing her onstage with him at the end.

The Rapper has yet to announce a new album but it has been nearly three years since his last one, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did sometime this year. In the meantime, watch his performance on The Late Show above.

Best New Music This Week: NIGO, Latto, Kid Cudi, and More

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Complex Original

  • Tyler, the Creator, ASAP Rocky, & NIGO, “Lost and Found Freestyle 2019”


  • Latto, “Trust No Bitch” 


  • Omar Apollo, “Tamagotchi” 


  • Summer Walker & SZA f/ Cardi B, “No Love (Extended)”


  • Denzel Curry f/ 454, “Sanjuro” 


  • Nicki Minaj f/ Fivio Foreign, “We Go Up”


  • Kid Cudi, “Stars in the Sky” 


  • Chance the Rapper, “Child of God”


  • Key Glock, “No Rap Cap” 


  • Buddy, “Hoochie Mama” 


  • Larry June & Jay Worthy f/ Roc Marciano, “Maybe the Next Time” 


  • 1 800 PAIN, “PEAKING”

Chance The Rapper Looks Back On Simpler Times In A Complicated World On ‘Child Of God’

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In early 2021, it seemed like Chance The Rapper was gearing up to release a new project, one that would be his first release since 2017’s The Big Day. He kicked off the year with the reflective “The Heart & The Tongue,” and prior to that, he returned with “Shelter” alongside Vic Mensa. The latter stood as the Chicago rappers’ first collaboration in years, and while Mensa has delivered multiple projects since then, Chance has not. Maybe 2022 is the year for a new body of work from Chance, but that remains to be seen. Until then, we can enjoy his newest single with help from painter Naila Opiangah and singer Moses Sumney.

Together, the trio arrives with “Child Of God,” a mellow track that sports bare-bone production which allows Chance the show off his rap skills. He uses his bars to look back on simpler times in a world that tends to be very complicated. The track also arrives with vocals from Moses Sumney and an accompanying music video that captures Chance rapping the lyrics to the song as Opiangah paints what turns out to be the song’s cover art on a large canvas beside him.

Chance premiered the video at the Museum of Contemporary Art where he spoke about his next project and what could be expected from it. “They all come from a space of me finally feeling empowered and me finally feeling ready to go speak on all the things that I think about,” he said about the project’s songs according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “This project does explore a lot darker themes than I have in the past couple of projects. But, it’s all still from a place of understanding that it’s all a process.”

“Child Of God” arrives after he reconnected with his SaveMoney crew earlier this month to release “Bag Boy,” their first song in eight years. Prior to that, he reunited with Supa Bwe for “ACAB” and also teased an upcoming song with Vic Mensa.

You can listen to “Child Of God” in the video above.

Chance The Rapper Teases A New Single Called ‘Child Of God’ Dropping This Week

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Chance The Rapper 2021
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Chance The Rapper is teasing new music set for release this Thursday. The Chicagoan dropped two clips on Instagram and Twitter, each containing previews of a new single called “Child Of God.”

The first clip sees a close-up of Chance’s face, shouting his signature “igh” ad lib, before a screen reading the text “Child Of God” appears. The next screen reveals a release date of March 24. According to the post’s caption, the new song features Naila Opiangah and Moses Sumney.

In a second clip, shared today, a woman is seen painting as Chance stands in the background. Set to the same instrumental, we once again hear the “igh” and see the “Child Of God” text, along with the March 24 release date.

Earlier this month, Chance revealed a snippet of new music with Vic Mensa. He also dropped new songs with Supa Bwe and his SaveMoney crew, marking the latter’s first song in eight years. Last year, Chance collaborated with R&B legend Dionne Warwick on a ballad called “Nothing’s Impossible.”

Outside of music, Chance has teamed up with Ben & Jerry’s to drop Mint Chocolate Chance, a mint chocolate-flavored ice cream filled with chunks of brownies. A percentage of sales of Mint Chocolate Chance goes to Chance’s non-profit SocialWorks, aimed toward empowering Chicago youth through arts, education, and civic engagement, with additional programming focusing on education, homelessness, mental health, and performing and literary arts.

Chance The Rapper Shares ‘Bag Boy,’ His Crew SaveMoney’s First Single In Eight Years

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Chance The Rapper
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Back in the late stages of the so-called “blog rap” era, just before streaming services became a thing in earnest and Billboard began counting streams as album-equivalent units, rap crews had proliferated all over the country, encompassing such loose confederations as the ASAP Mob, Raider Klan, and SaveMoney, the Chicago-based clique that included future superstars like Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa in their numbers.

Since then, many of these groups have dispersed or been sublimated into the increasingly fragmented tapestry of the post-streaming landscape, and more than a few have been forgotten about. However, at least one, SaveMoney, is looking to make a comeback, backed by one of their most successful members, Chance The Rapper, who shared the group’s first single under the SaveMoney banner in nearly eight years, “Bag Boy.”

Featuring group members Joey Purp and Kami along with guest artist DEXLVL, the new track is a laid-back, guitar-driven slow-burner Chance tweeted out with the cryptic message, “And it begins,” suggesting that there may well be more coming — something Chance, Kami, and Joey even teased in 2018, though nothing came of it then. And while both Joey Purp and Kami have collaborated a few times over the years, he hasn’t often tagged the SaveMoney Twitter account (which retweeted his message), which could mean that the group is planning a larger reunion now that Chance and Vic are back on good terms, too. Check out Chance’s tweet below and stream the new track here.