Courtesy of Consequence of Sound.

Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment released the video for their song “Sunday Candy” this past Sunday, appropriately. The single is the first off the group‰’s much anticipated album Surf, set to be released as a surprise album sometime this year.

The group‰’s most notable member is Chicago‰’s Chance the Rapper, who raps over the live instrumentation provided by his bandmates. The music is overseen, produced by and reflective of the band’s namesake, Donnie Trumpet. Since we last heard from Chance in 2013 he has remained decidedly independent, free from record deals or labels. He also has yet to charge for his music. 

Keeping his music free and teaming up with the Social Experiment is perhaps not the direction most fans thought Chance would take after the high acclamation of his second mixtape Acid Rap. However, if “Sunday Candy” is any indication of the music we will hear on Surf, it will be hard to second-guess any of the unusual career moves Chance has made.

The video for “Sunday Candy‰” was written by Chance himself and is all done in one long take. Using props and choreographed lindy-hop dance routines, the video resembles the look and feel of a school play. It is a perfect backdrop to fit the nostalgia of the song itself, which is essentially an ode to Chance‰’s religious grandmother who cared for the rapper when he was a child.

On this song, Chance uses his time spent at church with his grandmother on Sundays as a larger metaphor for the love and support his grandmother gave him that has led to his success today. He raps: “You’re my dreamcatcher, dream team, team captain / matter fact, I ain’t seen you in a minute let me take my butt to church.‰” Chance is much lighter in this song than on Acid Rap, but he shows the same unique flow and rhyme patterns that brought him so much recognition and love on that last project.

“Sunday Candy” is unique for rap today: very heartwarming and grounded with instrumentals and an equally positive visual representation. It is a song that leaves the listener hoping that Surf will drop sooner rather than later.