I'm a fan of Chance the Rapper. I still play Acid Rap as if it'd dropped yesterday, I follow him on Twitter and skip the first four minutes of "Confident" to get to his verse (not that I listen to any of Bieber's other songs all the way through). I find him refreshing and, although I wouldn't necessarily call him a "conscious" rapper, I think he does tackle serious social issues in an unassuming and creative way, with vision and intelligent delivery. Take "Wonderful Everyday", an inspired mix of hip-hop, gospel and everyone's favorite 90s PBS show - Chance manages a fresh retelling of the Arthur theme song's message: don't worry, be happy. Although he does not change many of the lyrics, he drives the message home that, despite the hard times you may be going through (as caused, at the time, by the chilling events in Ferguson), every day can, still, be wonderful.
In light of this previous release, Chance the Rapper and the Social Experiment's new piece, "No Better Blues", appears to be a stark contrast. In this new song, Chance delivers a litany of things he hates, including... well, everything under the sun: charities, hope, creatives, white people, government, schedules, his hands, handshakes, his nonexistent kids and, like most of us, virtually all vegetables. So, why would Chance, who delivered, arguably, the feel-good song of the summer after "Happy", bring us such a bleak follow-up?
Well, I don't think he did. Chance addressed this briefly when he said, in response to haters who (of course) focused on the line about him hating white people:
I hate having to explain pieces because it takes away from the wonder and the reward of deciphering code.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper)
October 17, 2014
But this one is pretty simple lol, it's satire
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper)
October 17, 2014
Of course it's satire. Anyone who follows Chance on Twitter or listens to his music understands that there is usually a deeper meaning to seemingly banal lyrics. In this case, Chance is, as per his tweet, spoofing complainers, people who hate their jobs, their lives, and everything involved in them. I think the beauty of "No Better Blues" is that in laying on the negativity so thickly, it still manages to be an inspirational song. You find yourself listening and laughing at how ludicrous it is to hate everything, but still manage to hear your own complaints in the lyrics. It embarrasses you into wanting to change your attitude. That is the genius of Chance the Rapper's lyrics: he manages to emote precisely what he intends to, without needing to do so explicitly.
I can't help, at the same time, but perceive a little bit of truth in some of the lyrics, particularly in the background singers' chant, "It just don't get better", as well as Chance's lyric, "I hate the darkness, I hate racists, I hate white people", in the context of the events in Ferguson and across the country. For millions of people in this country, it really isn't getting better, so at the same time that the song is delivering a clever spoof on pessimism, it's also quite reflective of what many people are feeling in this country during these trying times: a sense of hopelessness and a fear that things will not get better.
This contradiction, or juxtaposition rather, of two distinct messages in "No Better Blues" reflects both the hopelessness and the resilience being currently demonstrated by young black people in Ferguson and across the country. Both hopeful and hopeless, both resentful and relentless, Chance delivers a clever play on reality, and (perhaps unknowingly) reflects the spirit of the Ferguson movement.

















