Chance The Rapper is preparing his long-awaited follow-up to Acid Rap for release next week, and it's got us excitedly refreshing ourselves on his back catalog in anticipation. While 2015's SURF, Chance's first full-length collaboration with the Donnie Trumpet-led Social Experiment should give some hints as to what to expect from the project, Chance has also been known to share loose tracks and ideas on his SoundCloud, standalone records that may have been forgotten by the casual Chance fan.
Today we're going through some of the records Chance has shared on SC over the last couple of years -- some proving to be some of his strangest detours, and others going on to become live staples. Whatever it is you come to Chance's music for, there's surely something for you in his SoundCloud stash. Click through the galleries to see some of the more memorable pieces from himself and the Social Experiment.
Lady Friend
"Lady Friend"
Uploaded: February 14, 2015
Most on-point comment: "i cried" - user3202896
Chance's last loose release before dropping SURF was one of his more divisive records. "Lady Friend" finds Chance accompanied by a minimal piano and guitar arrangement, presented sparsely at first before the spaces are colored in with horns and backing harmonies. Meanwhile, Chance spends much of the record testing the limits of his vocal range, leaving every crack and squeak intact in his melodies, coming off extremely sincere one moment, and smugly grinning in the next, "I'm a cuddle not a dildo, I'm a love anecdote," but most of it pulls at the heartstrings in the simple ways much of SURF does. This probably missed the cut of the project as it's a little more meandering and melancholic than the rest of the work, but it serves as a perfect accompaniment.
No Better Blues
"No Better Blues"
Uploaded: October 14, 2014
Most on-point comment: "haha at the ppl hating on this. He is talking about YOU. Everyone on the internet hates everything." - wtfted
Chance might be one of the most unapologetically positive rappers out right now. There's a reason he's the guy who decided to record a Based Freestyle mixtape with Lil B last year. So, on surface level, "No Better Blues," seems out of character for him, but it doesn't take long to catch on to the satirical nature of the song, something Chance expanded on in a Billboard interview.
"I wanted there to be a certain level of confusion about it, because they are things that people might find themselves saying on a regular basis that they hate. Like the war or the government," he said. "It was just poking fun at saying that you hate anything. There’s so much positivity in the world and your day-to-day life that to go as far as to say that you hate something or you wish it didn’t exist and all the bad things in the world happen to you and only you, it’s a joke. It’s not real to have that much hate in your heart."
Planes
"Planes (SoX Remix)"
Uploaded: April 25, 2015
Most on-point comment:
@chancetherapper @UMG that's what happens when it's better than the original
As great as Jeremih's slow-burner, "PLanez" might be, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who really rides for the J. Cole verse. It's hard to picture even the biggest Cole stan defending, "dick so big it's like a foot is in your mouth," which is why the suggestion that Chance The Rapper was originally featured on the song further infuriated fans. Thankfully, Chance shared not only his verse, but a fully remixed version of the song on his SoundCloud, replacing the dark Vinylz beat with a horn-led triumph. The song works in both forms, but unfortunately, *DJ Khaled voice* they don't want you to have Chance's 16, and to the dismay of fans and the rapper himself, UMG removed the from his SoundCloud. It still lives on YouTube, and still stands as a great companion piece to "Wanna Be Cool," Jeremih's guest spot on SURF.
"Home Studio (Back Up In This Bitch)"
"Home Studio (Back Up In This Bitch)"
Uploaded: March 25, 2014
Most on-point comment: "those horns doeeee" - Benjamin Lin
Of all the loose tracks Chance put up on SoundCloud between the release of Acid Rap and SURF, "Home Studio" was one of the earliest and perhaps the most representative of the direction he was going with the Social Experiment. This one finds him spazzing out on the verses in distractingly technical bursts, but always putting as much concentration into his vocal performance as his writing. Meanwhile the horns come through so clean, it's hard not to confuse them for synths, an effect that would becoem something of a signature for SoX.
Wonderful Everyday
"Wonderful Everyday: Arthur"
Uploaded: July 30, 2014
Most on-point comment: "everyone saying it's like church music. psh if church choirs were this well produced I'd never miss church" - Daniel Franchi 1
The extremely positive, singalong feel of the Social Experiment's music hit its absolute extreme with "Wonderful Everyday," a riff on the theme song to the long-running animated TV series, Arthur. It definitely toes the line of corniness, but as evidenced on SURF's "Wanna Be Cool," this whole project is about the unapologetic embrace of one's self, and if we're being real, deep inside all of us is a kid who gets major feels from the Arthur song.
Save Yourself First
"Save Yourself First (Social Experiment original vs.)"
Uploaded: March 18, 2014
Most on-point comment: "The only thing i dont like about this song is that its not longer" - jordanlittleton
In 2014, Chance apparently moved in to a house in L.A. with James Blake, suggesting he and the UK songwriter had holed themselves up to work on music in L.A. While there is surely a lot of unreleased material from the sessions, the only thing to get an official release was the remix to Blake's "Life Round Here". However, Chance did also share a demo from an early version of the record on SoundCloud, writing "James never liked this vers.", and tagging it as a "Social Experiment original". It's more reserved take on the record, with Chance opting for a delicately sung delivery. It's all over too quickly, but it feels like peering into the vault of collaborations we may never actually hear.
I Am Very Very Lonely
"I Am Very Very Lonely"
Uploaded: April 30, 2014
Most on-point comment: "u need to be really high for this" - Comedian Sean P
"I Am Very Very Lonely" might be Chance The Rapper's strangest song ever, which is saying a lot. From the opening line, "it's just me and la cucaracha," to the squealing backing vocals, it's not a mystery why this didn't land on a proper project, but its appeal should reveal itself over multiple listens, as the driving melody proves to be stickier than it lets on, and the absurd lyrics ensure it never takes itself too seriously.
