Chance The Rapper, a figure most known for his popularity onSoundcloud, finally released his newest mixtape, Coloring Book-Chance 3, on May 12, 2016.

His profound rap talent emerged on Soundcloud and became widely known due to his mixtape Acid Rap. Acid Rap explored his life as a high school senior who spent his time experiencing different psychedelics that altered his aspect on life. The entire mixtape was written during his suspension from school and received a good amount of positive attention on social media that granted him a large amount of popularity.

Chance has been known for his raspy voice with a very strong influence from gospel music. This style continued in most of his recent mixtape, while there is also a variety of different rap styles as well. The many featured rappers, like Young Thugg and Kanye West, have made the mixtape vary in ways that Chance’s past mixtapes haven’t.

Acid Rap had many rebellious aspects to it, while Coloring Book proves that he has grown as an artist as well as an adult. This new mixtape takes a deeper look into how he believes that God has brought him to where he is today. The song “Blessings” talks about the role God has played in his life by bringing him success and a daughter. “I know the difference between blessings and worldly possessions, Like my ex girl getting pregnant and her becoming my everything.”, lyrics from the song Blessings.  This made me understand that youth doesn’t last forever and that the way we are now isn’t always who we will be later on. The chorus goes on to talk about how he will appreciate God until he’s no longer alive.

The mixtape features artists ranging from Justin Bieber to Lil Wayne, which may have given him some popularity outside his already developed fanbase, but I thought it took away from the original rapper he was in the beginning. I felt like he did a good job at staying relevant to what people wanted to hear while also straying from the mainstream. The mixture of different artists seemed to clashed with his style, although the songs still remained catchy. Overall,  I still appreciated his willingness to expand who he works with.

Although I was anticipating an album similar to Acid Rap, I was pleased to finally have a mixtape, outside of his work with his group The Social Experiment, after a long 3 year wait.

Kenzie Ross, Staff Reporter