Chance The Rapper & Zane Lowe Dive Beautifully Into Coloring Book, TLOP, Religion & More





Music is all we got. No words ring truer than the ones spoken by Kanye West on the hook of Chance The Rapper's welcoming song to Coloring Book, All We Got.

Those five simple words stick in your mind because they're so heavy. The hook comes with a ton of feeling that reveals its universally known beauty and truth in the Chance x Zane Lowe interview. If listening to Chance's sit down with the distinguished Zane Lowe is not on your radar, consider this decision to be in poor taste and a major musical faux pas rendered inexcusable. This riveting  interview plunges right into the musical/creative process we're so desperate to want to be a part of. Zane asks Chance the proper questions to open up Coloring Book's secrets in a way that should make us all appreciate what these artists do even more.

This interview made me fully appreciate the little inner workings of a song a lot deeper. Chance happily strips song after song down in full view to gradually show how everything was pieced together to make such a personal groundbreaking mixtape have such a fantastic scope. The way Chance discusses All We Got's origins being a record Donnie Trumpet, Nate Fox and Grace Weber worked on is deliciously rich information music fanatics don't get in the digital age anymore. Hearing the original bounciness in the kicks, feeling that initial electric dance energy the track worked with was amazing. It let us hear the song in two different lights and it allowed us to think about what could have been, but appreciate what is even more. The story of Kanye West coming through to remove the kicks, submerging himself in the process and his manual input of drums live off an MPC is classic lore fueling the magic of music. It raises the levels of artistry. And because of the death of liner notes due to the burgeoning digital music space, these stories and the brilliant details and importance of the process don't get passed down or known. These nutrient-rich details of the process connect us with the music and feed us in so many different ways. I personally became more deeply invested in the music than I already am. And that's special.

The hour-long interview hosted a bevy of moments that allow us to revel at Chance's genius, to revel at the genius of the people he creates with. There's plenty of moments dedicated to Chicago love, deep talk on religion, God's direct relationship with the youth (and whether it's blatantly present or not), family, a possible concert tour touting the album, the direction now that Chance's trilogy (10 Day, Acid Rap, Coloring Book) is done and more. But the moment that stood out to me was the showcasing of the original version of Waves and Famous Chance The Rapper made for Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo. I've gotta say, Chance The Rapper is a more outstanding artist than I realized. The sheer power in Waves with the choir and the blueprint that was laid by Chano's verse for Chris Brown exposes the vision he has. It shines light on the hand he truly had on TLOP and it is impressive. His Famous verse is absolutely nuts, though. I thought it brought a completely new dimension of blackness to the song. No one raps like Chance. There is no mimicking his cadences, ad libs or flow. It adds personality to his clever Do The Right Thing reference. It introduces real pro action intentions in such a lovely display of versatility as he sing/raps and pushes the soulful gospel direction of the album. I love that verse. It makes me want to sing that verse word for word. That early version is something I appreciate, a musical moment I won't soon forget.

This is truly one of the better interviews I've seen in a long time. There is no beating around the bush. There are no vague questions that only scratch the surface of Coloring Book with stuff we already know. Zane Lowe did a wonderful job mining information that we could only known if we were in the studio during the recording sessions. Chance The Rapper is taking over the musical world. He is changing the entire way music is viewed, how music should be rewarded and the way artists should be awarded. He is making us rethink what we classify and consider fit for a rap project. Meanwhile Lil Chano from 79th is expanding the lane for independent artists. He is paving a multitude of ways to make it to this level. It will be fun to watch Coloring Book rewrite the lines of popular music and take it to the limits and go outside of what it is expected to do in terms of charting. But more importantly, Chance The Rapper is raising up an entire city in the process. He is an addicting chipper force to be reckoned with who has God and love on his side. And the good news is he hasn't entirely arrived yet. And if that doesn't excite, or maybe even scare you, it should.

Listen to Zane Lowe & Chane The Rapper chop it up below.

Photo Creds: noisey.vice.com/soundcloud.com 
             
      

 

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