For the first time since he’s made a name for himself, Chancellor Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper, hasn’t received particularly positive reviews on his most recent studio album. His most loyal fans, those who have been listening to Bennett’s music since his first mixtape, feel as if he’s changed his sound and fallen subject to the peer pressure of modern-day music.
On July 26, Bennett released his debut studio album titled “The Big Day” on all streaming services. The album has 22 tracks, including a couple of skits that are not songs whatsoever. This is the problem with the album and why most fans feel Bennett has changed the way he feels about music. Bennett’s use of skits in the middle of the album cause a long break between each song and make the album feel as if it’s drawn out too long. It almost resembles another album, Kanye West’s “The College Dropout,” which includes skits as well as songs. Bennett has always seen West as a protégé and the similarities between the two albums make that apparent.
The album is filled with a handful of artists as features and some of those are welcomed by the Chance the Rapper fan club while others are not. The first song on the album, “All Day Long,” features John Legend, a known vocalist that has always remained unproblematic and released successful songs and albums. Bennett also features one of the newer rappers, DaBaby, on the fourth track called “Hot Shower” and Megan Thee Stallion on track 11, called “Handsome.” These two features give the album a little more positive reviews because each of these artists is big in the music industry. The problem with choosing Megan Thee Stallion, however, is that most fans feel that Bennett chose the wrong female rapper for the particular song.
On track 17, called “Slide Around,” Bennett features female rapper, Nicki Minaj. Talent-wise, choosing both Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion for the album was a mistake made by Bennett since Minaj has better lyrics, songs and albums.
If you compare “The Big Day” with Bennett’s earlier music, you can clearly see the change he’s made when it comes to his music. His first mixtapes, titled “10 Day” and “Acid Rap,” were both written at a difficult time for Bennett, since he was on drugs while writing both. The music he produced than is grungier and the lyrics are slightly more explicit. Although “The Big Day,” mimics the same style of songs, the lyrics Bennett has written are not the same. While he raps about being addicted to acid in the first couple of mixtapes, Bennett is now known for mentioning his new life after finding his religion.
“The Big Day,” unfortunately, isn’t some of Bennett’s best work but it does not define the talent he has as a rapper or a musician.
