Coloring Book (mixtape)

Coloring Book
Mixtape by Chance the Rapper
Released May 13, 2016
Genre
Length 57:14
Producer
Chance the Rapper chronology
Free (Based Freestyles Mixtape)
(2015)
Coloring Book
(2016)
Singles from Coloring Book
  1. "Angels"
    Released: October 27, 2015
  2. "No Problem"
    Released: May 26, 2016
  3. "Summer Friends"
    Released: August 17, 2016[1]

Coloring Book is the third mixtape by American hip hop recording artist Chance the Rapper. It was produced by his group The Social Experiment, Lido, and Kaytranada, among others. For the album, Chance also collaborated with musicians such as Kanye West, Young Thug, Francis and the Lights, Justin Bieber, Ty Dolla Sign, Kirk Franklin, and the Chicago Children's Choir.

Coloring Book was released on May 12, 2016, exclusively on Apple Music, before being made available to other streaming services on May 27. It was the first album to chart on the Billboard 200 solely on streams, peaking at number eight, while receiving widespread acclaim from critics who praised its fusion of hip hop and gospel sounds.

Background

Chance the Rapper told Complex that Coloring Book would be a superior record to Surf, the 2015 album that he had released with his group Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment.[2] As with his other mixtapes, 10 Day and Acid Rap, the cover artwork was painted by Chicago-based artist Brandon Breaux, who depicted Chance holding his baby daughter (below the frame) in order to capture the expression on his face.[3]

According to Financial Times music critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Coloring Book is an upbeat gospel rap album whose themes of spiritual fulfillment and worldly accomplishment are explored in music "that places gospel choirs and jazzy horns in a modern setting of Auto-Tuned hooks and crisp beats".[4] Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten wrote that the gospel choirs were the foundation of the mixtape's music, functioning in the same way disco interpolations had on the earliest rap records, James Brown rhythms had for Public Enemy, and soul samples had for Kanye West.[5]

Chance discussed Coloring Book's theme of Christian faith in an interview with Zane Lowe. "I never really set out to make anything that could pretend to be new gospel or pretend to be the gospel", he said. "It's just music from me as a Christian man because I think before I was making music as a Christian child. And in both cases I have imperfections, but there was a declaration that can be made through going all the [stuff] I've been through the last few years." Lowe himself believed the mixtape showcased how "faith in music and faith in God go hand-in-hand a lot of times".[6]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.2/10[7]
Metacritic90/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubA−[9]
Chicago Tribune[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[11]
Financial Times[4]
The Irish Times[12]
NME4/5[13]
Pitchfork9.1/10[14]
Rolling Stone[5]
Spin9/10[15]
ViceA[16]

Coloring Book's release date was revealed by Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon after Chance's May 6 performance of "Blessings" on the show.[17] The mixtape was released exclusively to the Apple Music streaming service at 11 p.m. EST on May 12,[18] the same day its second single "No Problem" was released;[19] the lead single "Angels" had been released on October 27, 2015.[20] Coloring Book was leaked to DatPiff, a mixtape distribution website, one hour after its release; it was removed from the site the following day.[18] In its first week, the mixtape debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 based on 57.3 million streams of its songs, which Billboard equated to 38,000 album units.[21] It was the first release to chart on the Billboard 200 solely on streams.[22] The mixtape was available only on Apple Music through May 27, when it was released to other streaming services.[21]

Coloring Book received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the mixtape received an average score of 90, based on 20 reviews.[8] In the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot hailed it as "a celebration of singing, harmonizing, human voices making a joyous noise together",[10] while Kris Ex from Pitchfork named it "one of the strongest rap albums released this year, an uplifting mix of spiritual and grounded that even an atheist can catch the Spirit to".[14] Writing for Vice, Robert Christgau believed Chance's already irrepressibly cheerful voice sounded more attractive and substantial than before because of how the music's gospel elements had encouraged a stronger "vocal muscle" and controlled pitch.[16] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times argued that Chance had drawn on the spirituality and consciousness present in West's music while "blossoming into a crusader and a pop savant, coming as close as anyone has to eradicating the walls between the sacred and the secular". He found his flow melodically and rhythmically dense yet deft and effortless, while deeming his narratives both intimate and universal, touching on familial duties, the violent crime in Chance's native Chicago, and being an independent artist in the modern music industry era.[23] In the opinion of Slate journalist Jack Hamilton, Coloring Book was "the first true gospel-rap masterpiece".[24]

Year-end rankings

Publication Rank
Mojo
NME
Paste
Rolling Stone
Stereogum

Track listing

No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "All We Got" (featuring Kanye West and Chicago Children's Choir)
  • The Social Experiment
  • Glichee
3:23
2. "No Problem" (featuring Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz)Brasstracks 5:05
3. "Summer Friends" (featuring Jeremih and Francis and the Lights)Francis and the Lights 4:50
4. "D.R.A.M. Sings Special"  
  • The Social Experiment
  • Jordan Ware
1:41
5. "Blessings"  The Social Experiment 3:41
6. "Same Drugs"  
  • The Social Experiment
  • Lido
4:17
7. "Mixtape" (featuring Young Thug and Lil Yachty)
  • Stix
  • CBMIX
4:52
8. "Angels" (featuring Saba)
  • Lido
  • The Social Experiment
3:26
9. "Juke Jam" (featuring Justin Bieber and Towkio)
  • Rascal
  • Peter Cottontale
3:39
10. "All Night" (featuring Knox Fortune)Kaytranada 2:21
11. "How Great" (featuring Jay Electronica and My Cousin Nicole)The Social Experiment 5:37
12. "Smoke Break" (featuring Future)
  • GARREN
  • LoopedOutLoud
3:46
13. "Finish Line / Drown" (featuring T-Pain, Kirk Franklin, Eryn Allen Kane and Noname)The Social Experiment 6:46
14. "Blessings (Reprise)" (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)
  • The Social Experiment
  • Cam O'bi
3:50

Track notes

Charts

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 20
Irish Albums (IRMA)[37] 81
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 32
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[39] 56
US Billboard 200[40] 8

References

  1. http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7476178/chance-the-rapper-launches-rapper-radio
  2. S., Nathan (May 11, 2016). "Chance the Rapper: "Chance 3" Will Be "Better Than 'Surf.' I'll Say That on Record"". Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  3. Breaux, Brandon (2016-05-05). "Meet Brandon Breaux, The Artist Who Brings Chance The Rapper's Mixtape Covers To Life". The Fader (Interview). Interview with Jordan Darville. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  4. 1 2 Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (May 20, 2016). "Chance the Rapper: Coloring Book — review". Financial Times. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Weingarten, Christopher R. (May 18, 2016). "Coloring Book". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  6. Sarachik, Justin (May 26, 2016). "Chance the Rapper Losing God Helped Him Create Music as 'Christian Man'". Rapzilla. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  7. "Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper reviews". Any Decent Music. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Reviews for Coloring Book [Mixtape] by Chance the Rapper". Metacritic. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  9. Rytlewski, Evan (May 16, 2016). "Chance the Rapper takes us all to church on Coloring Book". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Kot, Greg (May 13, 2016). "Chance the Rapper makes freedom sing on 'Coloring Book'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  11. Brown, Eric Renner (May 16, 2016). "Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  12. Carroll, Jim (May 26, 2016). "Chance the Rapper: Coloring Book – Ambitious, compelling, and joyful". The Irish Times. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  13. Cooper, Leonie (May 16, 2016). "Chance the Rapper – 'Coloring Book' Review". NME. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Ex, Kris (May 17, 2016). "Chance the Rapper: Coloring Book". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  15. Julious, Britt (May 18, 2016). "Review: Chance the Rapper Turns Atheists Into Believers on 'Coloring Book'". Spin. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (June 17, 2016). "Praise to the Most Blessed: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  17. Goddard, Kevin (2016-05-06). "Chance the Rapper Announces Release Date For "Chance 3"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
  18. 1 2 "Chance the Rapper Switches Up His Release Strategy With 'Coloring Book'". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  19. "Chance the Rapper Returns with 'Coloring Book' Mixtape". Vibe. May 13, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  20. "Check out Chance the Rapper's new song, 'Angels'". Sun-Times National. October 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Drake's 'Views' No. 1 for Third Week on Billboard 200, Meghan Trainor Debuts at No. 3". May 22, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  22. "Chance the Rapper's 'Coloring Book' is First Streaming-Exclusive Album to Chart on Billboard 200". May 22, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  23. Caramanica, Jon (May 19, 2016). "Chance the Rapper Releases 'Coloring Book,' With Spirit". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  24. Hamilton, Jack (May 16, 2016). "Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book Is the First True Gospel-Rap Masterpiece". Slate. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  25. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Mojo. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  26. "NME's Albums of the Year 2016". NME. November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  27. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  28. "50 Best Albums of 2016". Rolling Stone. November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  29. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Stereogum. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  30. 1 2 3 4 Lucas G. (May 16, 2016). "All 74 People Credited on Chance The Rapper's "Coloring Book"". DJBooth. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  31. "Lil Chano From 79th on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  32. "Lil Chano From 79th on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  33. "Lil Chano From 79th on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  34. "Lil Chano From 79th on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  35. "Bri on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  36. "Chance the Rapper – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Chance the Rapper. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  37. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 22, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  38. "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 22, 2016". VG-lista. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  39. "Sverigetopplistan – Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016. Click on "Veckans albumlista".
  40. "Chance the Rapper – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Chance the Rapper. Retrieved May 23, 2016.

External links

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