In 2011 I was surfing through the internet looking for new music when I stumbled upon the mixtape "Acid Rap". It instantly grabbed my attention, but not in a good way. I thought it was terrible and could barley make it past the first song. Everything about this mixtape was so different from any other rap music I had heard and I just disregarded it without actually listening to it. After about a month without thinking about or listening to Acid Rap I was visiting my friends in Houston and they were listening to it none stop. This time I actually listened to it and I was amazed.
Chance's approach to his music was unlike anything I had heard from the rap genre. Rather than reciting verses about money, girls, drugs and the other things almost all rappers talk about, Chance raps with incredible honesty about his life, family, community and the problems that surround him like on the track Paranoia. On this song he paints a picture of himself as someone with his blunt on his lips the sun on his eyes and his gun on his hip. At this point in the mixtape Chance comes off as someone very druggy and very violent but then looks back to ask the question why the media isn't covering the extreme gang violence thats going on in his home town of Chicago with lyrics like "Where Matt Lauer at? someone get Katy Couric in here" followed by more honesty throwing bars out like "down here It's easier to find a gun than it is to find a f****** parking spot" or "Put visine inside my eyes so my grandma will f****** hug me" and the music that accompanies his lyrics is not just a catchy tune with a crank baseline. The music is pianos, guitars, organs, trumpets and more .
This mixtape changed the way I listen to rap music. It made me actually listen to the meat of the music. What their actually saying. It also was able to put an interest in creating music in me.
What made this work of art really grab me was Chance's honesty. The story he tells. I had never been able to listen to a mixtape or album like this and helped me to not just like rap music but actually respect it.
I never really liked the album ¨acid rap¨, but hey thats just me. You do you buddy. Why would you say chance was using Honesty? What makes you think he was being completely honest threw ought his whole album.
ReplyDeleteWhy were you hesitant to listen to chance at first?
ReplyDeleteI was hesitant because i was looking for rap music and was expecting what i usually hear but then got this. It's like when you go to take a sip out of coke and it turns out its sweet tea. Sweet tea is good and all but at the time i found it i just wanted coke.
DeleteI have also been in a experience where I didn't like a song until I listened to it later. It's nice to have someone else experience that, too.
ReplyDeleteLook at the quotes i used. For 1 example He says that its easier to find a gun than a parking spot which may not be literally true but the honesty in it is that in Chicago there is a lot of gang violence and many of the people have guns and or can find them very easily.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought this mix tape was about some drug addict's problems, but then I gave it a listen and it was not that bad.
ReplyDeleteRap has ben associated with the terms that you described in the beginning of your essay and like you said it's a misunderstood music genre. It reflects their minds and their struggle growing up and music has been a way for them to escape their reality. It has become an art for them. Do you still listen to his mix tapes? Has his lyrics caught any attention in media now when he is so famous?
ReplyDeleteChance changed the rap game and turned something negative into a positive influence. Not only was his music art but the way he marketed that music was art too. Very interesting perspective!
ReplyDeleteYou do a nice job describing the music--I think describing music is one of the hardest tasks in the English language. You should write for Rolling Stone.
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