A MAGNIFICENT DAY FOR CHICAGO
Chance the Rapper has had one of the most prolific years in recent Hip-Hop history. A native of the Southside of Chicago, the young MC has been in the industry for nearly five years. However, 2016 has proven to be the watershed moment for Chance. At the top of the year, it was revealed that he co-wrote songs for Kanye West's seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo. He also delivered a showstopping verse on the album's intro, Ultralight Beam. What followed this appearance would be an impressive marketing run leading up to the release of his third mixtape, Coloring Book (promoted as Chance 3). The rapper would go on to host an episode of Saturday Night Live (the first independent music artist ever to do so), appear at the White House to promote the My Brother's Keeper Challenge initiative with President Obama, and secure sponsorship and promotion deals with H&M and Nike.
Coloring Book was released on May 12 exclusively on Apple Music. The albun debuted with 57.3 million streams of its songs in the first week, becoming the first album ever to chart on the Billboard 200 solely based off streams. The project featured an array of impressive guest appearances from Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne, Francis and the Lights, Justin Bieber, Ty Dolla Sign, Kirk Franklin, and the Chicago Children's Choir. Coloring Book received widespread critical acclaim and made such an impact, that the 23-year-old rapper led the charge for rule changes to the GRAMMY nomination process regarding free releases, and won. That's right, Coloring Book, a free release, is eligible to be nominated at the 2017 GRAMMYs. An unprecedented move.
But Chance wouldn't stop there. He announced his own headlining tour, The Magnificent Coloring Tour, which included a day long festival at the Chicago White Sox stadium U.S. Cellular Field entitled Magnificent Coloring Day. The announced lineup included a list of collaborators and friends only Chance could conjure up - Skrillex, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator, and Lil Uzi Vert. Chance has never been one to follow in anyone's footsteps, but this move was a milestone for his hometown. Chicago's Southside has been largely excluded from the city's entertainment industry, despite its amazing contributions to art and culture. It's also no secret to that the Southside has dealt with catastrophic violence, particular gun violence in recent years. As a positive contributor to his community, and an activist for the city at large, Chance not only created Magnificent Coloring Day to celebrate Chicago's rich culture, but to act as a source of pride an honor for the city's residents. On Saturday, he successfully brought the world to Chicago.
In front of a record-breaking sellout crowd, and many more at home watching the TIDAL exclusive live stream, Magnificent Coloring Day was Chance's beautiful vision of Chicago's Southside come to life. On site, local vendors such as Harold's Chicken Shack, Haire’s Gulf Shrimp and streetwear boutique, Jugrnaut, added Chicago flavor to the venue. To remind concert-goers of this year's upcoming election, the NAACP had voter registration stations. Only an artist such as Chance could make these things co-exist. But what would a festival be without the music? After the day kicked off with Francis and the Lights, Lil Uzi Vert delivered an energetic performance to get the audience going. Following a Young Thug no-show, Tyler the Creator had rebellious fun with the audience, while criticizing the “fucking idiot” who sold restricted view tickets to fans sitting behind the stage. On multiple occasions, he would make amends and run to the back of the stage to rap to the fans.
Nearly 40 minutes before John Legend was schedule to hit the stage, Tyler's microphone abruptly cut off, causing many to think it was technical difficulties. But then, Kanye West walked out on stage to the sounds of Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 and the audience lost their collective shit. Videos of fans leaving their seats and hopping over porta potties to rush the stage have become internet famous now. With a show scheduled for his own tour in Nashville later that evening, Mr. West wasted no time performing a string of his hits including Touch the Sky, Gold Digger, All Falls Down, and Can't Tell Me Nothing. Kanye's brief surprise appearance concluded with Ultralight Beam, alongside his fellow Chicago MC, Chance, in one of the day's most emotional moments. “I’m so proud of this young man for putting this on,” Kanye told the crowd. As the peak highlight of the festival, it was a beautiful, symbolic passing of the torch as Chance slung his arm around his big brother when the two exited the stage. Bone chilling.
But the day wasn't even half-way finished. John Legend was next, with a full band taking advantage of the stage's sonics. He cruised through an array of hits such as Ordinary People and Used to Love U. Legendary Chicago MC, Common, also made a guest appearance to perform the Academy Award-winning song, Glory. Following a surprise appearance by Chicago comedian, Hannibal Buress, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz (billed together as Collegrove) ran through some of Hip-Hop's biggest hit songs for more than an hour. The slew of bangers included Tunechi-classics such as A Milli, Lollipop, and catchy 2 Chainz hits such as Watch Out and Riot. Next, Alicia Keys knocked out a 45-minute set and provided a much needed tempo break from the frenzy of Kanye and Collegrove. Some may have forgotten how strong Keys voice is, but the singer didn't disappoint with her well-known hits such as If I Ain’t Got You, Karma, and Fallin.
But nothing proved to be as magnificent as the show's host and headliner. His theatrical set included his band, The Social Experiment, a puppet named Carlos, and the Chicago Children's Choir. Chance performed nearly every track off of Coloring Book, shifting from high energy tracks such as No Problems and All We Got to the heartfelt, gospel-infused tracks like How Great and Blessings. In a stadium filled with nearly 48,000 fans who sported tons of Chance merchandise, the Chicago MC left the audience with an endearing message:
“Did you know your blessings ain’t on an album? But they’re coming! Did you know your blessings ain’t in a show? But they’re coming! Did you know your blessings aren’t made of flesh? But they’re coming!”
At only 23 years-old, it might be easy to forget that Chance is a father, and an activist who embodies the pride of his city in every sense of the word. Instead of following the status quo of the entertainment industry, he's created his own rules. This one-day showcase of Chicago pride and honor was the living, breathing epitome of rewriting the rules of music in order to tell the story of one of America's greatest cities. But for a man who stated that blessings aren't in a sold-out festival in which he was responsible for, Magnificent Coloring Day was surely a God dream.