Chance the Rapper, ‘Acid Rap’ – Mixtape Review
Chance the Rapper is making his own genre with this mixtape, ‘Acid Rap.’ While other rappers are on the Molly train, Chance is joyously utilizing acid the way the Beatles used it for ‘Revolver’ back in the '60s. Rap has never sounded like this before.
The 20-year-old Chicago native will more than likely be compared to his other South Side peer Chief Keef but these two couldn’t be more different. Chance isn’t using gimmicky and catchy one-liners to reach out to the masses and exploit the corrupted city that is Chicago. Instead, he uses his rhymes as the voice of the voiceless, the way '90’s rappers used their music on current issues.
On ‘Pusha Man,’ he explodes on the daily inner city violence that Chi-town sees daily yet it’s never reported. He spits, “They murkin' kids / They murder kids here / Why you think they don’t talk about it? They deserted us here / Where the f--- is Matt Lauer at? Somebody get Katie Couric in here / Probably scared of all the refugees.”
He lyrically takes us on a cartoonish and colorfully crazy lyrical ride on ‘Good Ass Intro,’ which is reminiscent of Kanye West's 'College Dropout.’ "Work / Work / Work / Work / Bang n----, bang! /Twerk / Twerk / Merge / Swerve / Dang / Pick a lane! / Flip a bird / Pigeon plane!” he spits out in more double time than the previous bars.
Action Bronson, Ab-Soul, Childish Gambino, Twista and BJ the Chicago Kid are a few of the rappers and singers lending their talents to the project while producers Jake One, Nate Fox, Blended Babies and Brandun Deshay, among others, craft the beats.
Overall, 'Acid Rap' is certainly one of the craziest trips that hip-hop listeners have ever had, with his crazy lyrical roller-coaster wordplay to the colorful funhouse beats and wit.
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Listen to Chance the Rapper's 'Acid Rap' Mixtape
Watch Chance the Rapper's 'Good Ass Intro' Video