SEE CHANCE LIVE AT AU ON APRIL 10

Among the best hip-hop releases of last year, Chance The Rapper’s breakthrough project Acid Rap is an impossibly smooth and effortless collection of summer infused, fresh pop rap. With a voice that sounds like the unpredictably soulful fusion of Andre 3000 and Lil Wayne, Chance croons, shouts, yips, and raps his way through his material with a delivery that, though somewhat grating at first, quickly becomes among the most personality laden and charming vocal styles out there, so much so that his omnipresent “NYANYANYANUHNA‰” adlib even sticks in your head. At the core of this album is Chance‰’s youth, and the subject matter is everything you would expect a twenty year old to have on his mind, primarily girls, getting high, and the occasional haphazard philosophical/political musing. Throughout it all Chance enjoys himself, never forgetting to have fun on a track and, to his credit, never taking himself all that seriously. His delivery is complimented with beats which incorporate an astounding amount of live instrumentation, pulling heavy influence from the genres of old psychedelic and funk records, with the addition of piano and horns being a particularly impactful addition. All of this is to say that, though you may not be getting too “deep‰” or “real‰” with the content of Acid Rap, what‰’s here is a personal, relatable, and, most importantly, fun and lively release by a rapper who can only go up from here.

RIYL: Outkast, Joey Bada$$, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 4, 10, 11