XXL released their 2014 Freshman cover last week, and now the freestyles are starting to roll in. First up is Chicago’s Chance The Rapper. In a pair of denim overalls and a SGMC GOAT t-shirt, Chance sticks to his sing-song style in the minute-plus freestyle. Be on the lookout for the other 11 freestyles to follow. Check it out below, and read our list of freshmen here.

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Go ahead and hit Chance’s phone if you’re lonely. One year after the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap, Chance The Rapper and his band Social Experiment have a celebratory gift for the solemn and bored: “I Am Very Very Lonely.”  “You can’t hear my new song without Big Speakers. and You have to be very very lonely,” Chance stated via his Twitter account. His idea of spending time alone includes watching TV, being domestic in the kitchen and taking selfies. At least he’s staying preoccupied. Listen to the track below.

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In case you couldn’t get enough of Chance the Rapper and James Blake, the unlikely pair is back. “Save Yourself First” is the original, and unfinished version of their “Life Round Here” collaboration which was featured on Chance’s Acid Rap. Chance posted the track to his Soundcloud stating that “James never liked this verse.” This rendition is a more soulful, organic sound courtesy of Chance’s production team The Social Experiment. Check it out below.

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Allen Daniels

Chance The Rapper recently shared a variety of  black and white photos that were taken during his Social Experiment Tour, which wrapped up last December.The photos chronicle Chance and his crew as they rocked out on stage as well as the action-packed fun that went on behind and beyond the curtains. We actually covered Chance on two occasions during this tour, but there’s nothing like viewing the tour from the perspective of Chance himself.  Check out a few shots below and visit Chance‘s website to view the entire album. As noted, all photos are by Allen Daniels.

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

Allen Daniels

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#15: 1017 Thug – Young Thug

For better or worse, 2013 has undeniably been the year for trap music. Saturated with molly references, menacing bells, thudding bass and auto-tune, most of this music has been aggressively forgettable. Even the most passionate trap-enthused DJs haven’t kept most of these songs in rotation. Nevertheless, amidst this atmosphere of ephemeral mediocrity, one particular artist is etched into our minds: Young Thug. The Atlanta artist released 1017 Thug back in February, but it’s still a fresh project. Released a few weeks after Young Thug‘s signing to Gucci Mane‘s 1017 imprint, the mixtape reminds us of the unbridled experimentation that characterized trap’s initial emergence. Before trap music had a readily identifiable aesthetic, it was basically the sound of people trying to make money by any means necessary. Accordingly, no stone was left unturned; no idea was left unconsidered. Young Thug keeps that spirit alive, using trap sounds to create music that doesn’t easily fall into the categories of “street anthem” or “club-ready.” 1017 Thug features him truly exploring what trap can do beyond making people “turn up.” Of course, this mixtape will make you turn up, but that’s not all there is to it. There’s some genuine craftsmanship here.

#14: Summer Knights – Joey Bada$$

Young Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ had a hectic 2012. The release of his mixtape 1999 was insanely successful, very quickly propelling him and his Pro Era crew from internet underdogs to widely acknowledged emcees. Yet despite these gains, the year ended with a tragic los:, the suicide of Joey‘s friend and fellow crew member, Capital STEEZ. Joey and company strongly kept chugging along, working with other artists, touring and just generally trying to capitalize on their hard-earned opportunities, but death is a strange and unpredictable experience, so when Summer Knights was announced, there was some genuine trepidation regarding how good the music could be in the wake of such a tragedy. Fortunately, Joey delivers. Whereas 1999 painted Joey and Pro Era as meticulous nostalgists, Summer Knights shows that the crew’s artistic roots extend far beyond 90’s New York. New York’s particular contributions to hip-hop are still central to how Joey creates, but Summer Knights depicts Joey with leanings toward reggae, dub, poetry and arguably even some punk rock, with flows to match.

#13: Cut 4 Me – Kelela

Kelela has the uncanny ability to establish harmony amidst the most elemental chaos. Featuring graceful melodies atop amorphous tracks from producer hive Fade to Mind, Cut 4 Me is 50 minutes of fearless exploration of voice and affect. Strikingly, most of the songs are remixes, yet Kelela stealthily colonizes them all, owning them for herself. Some of these instrumentals truly are intimidating, yet Kelela faces them like a veteran, variously taming them and absorbing their unbridled energy into her melodies. Cut 4 Me is the musical equivalent of the comic book character Storm controlling, unleashing and becoming one with the weather.

#12: King Remembered in Time – Big K.R.I.T.

The consequence of giving fans consecutively stronger releases is the escalation of their expectations. With the release of Live From the Underground, Big K.R.I.T. found himself fighting against the quality of his former releases, much to his chagrin. After all, he made many sacrifices for Live From the Underground, namely its necessarily small number of samples in comparison to his mixtapes. Dealing with the reception of his debut album, the Mississippi rapper doubled-down on King Remembered in Time, actively competing with and trying to best his previous works. He isn’t as successful as he could have been, but the tenacity and the gumption of the project resonate well. K.R.I.T. both gives fans what they want and gives them a potent “STFU,” all while remaining relatively innovative and open-minded. There are surely some misfires, but when K.R.I.T. is on point, he’s truly unmatched. Read our full review here.

#11: No Poison, No Paradise – Black Milk

Black Milk‘s biggest career mistake may have been titling his 2010 LP, “Album of the Year.” While that project certainly stands firm as a great body of work, it is on No Poison, No Paradise that the Detroit emcee/producer crafts his magnum opus and undoubtedly one of the best albums of 2013. From the Mel-assisted opener, the listener is taken on a morose journey through the childhood of Sonny, a fictionalized character brought to life by Black Milk’s own experiences. Think of this as a more flushed-out and hyper-realized version of The Roots’ Undun. “Deion’s House” tells the story of Sonny’s friend, who is a quasi-bad influence, given the fact that he pulls Sonny towards the street life, while at the same time pushes our hero to pursue his musical aspirations. Herein lies the narrative in a nutshell: dealing with the influences of your surroundings while striving towards a greater goal. While Black Milk’s production sometimes garners more attention than his lyrical skills, as do his collaborations with the likes of Danny Brown and Jack White, this is the album that proves that his pen game is just as lethal.

The post RESPECT. Roundtable: The Best 15 Albums of 2013 appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photo By: Julia Schur

Exhausted. That’s what 20 year-old, rap-phenom Chancelor Bennett, aka Chance The Rapper, should be by now. It all started when he dropped the video for his single “Juice”  on January 31st. A few short months later, Chance dropped Acid Rap, a mixtape that’s both critically adored and wildly popular in the hip-hop blogosphere and beyond. As you probably know, Acid Rap propelled Chance into space. This summer he toured the world and opened with some of rap’s biggest names, from Eminem to Macklemore to Kendrick Lamar to Odd Future; recorded songs with both megastars (‘You Song’ on Lil Wayne’s Dedication 5’ and up-and-comers (‘Wendy N’ Becky’ with Joey BadA$$); and went on his own country-wide tour, the Social Experiment Tour, which spanned 30 cities in just under 2 months – it just ended on December 7th.

Last Monday night, on one of his final dates of the tour, Chance arrived at Oberlin College – a small liberal college, home to just under 3,000 students, located 35 minutes west of Cleveland, Ohio – and took the stage at the Dionysus Disco. The ‘Sco is in the basement of Oberlin’s Student Union and is fully equipped with a half-bar, slightly usable restrooms, a stage fit for a children’s church choir, and capacity for 250-300 uncomfortable people. In other words, it’s not exactly a place you’d expect the next big thing in hip-hop to be performing at. You’d expect Chance to at least be in Cleveland, possibly at the House of Blues, or maybe even the Grog Shop or Peabody’s. But no, sitting in a not-so-hidden parking lot right next door to ‘Sco was Chance‘s tour “bus,” a mini-van with “Acid Rap” detailed into the sides.  But though his bus wasn’t a marvel, he’d nonetheless been selling out shows in nearly every city he’s been to; everyone – hip-hop heads, hipsters,  word nerds, smokers, groupies, and generally curious individuals – has been clamoring to see this kid from the Windy City.

Accordingly, here he was, performing in the basement of a liberal arts college’s student center, in Ohio, early in December, as his first country-wide headlining tour was winding down. He didn’t have to leave his heart on the stage, he didn’t have to perform like this was his first show, he didn’t have to bring those Michael Jackson-esque dance moves that he’s been busting for the last six months, and he didn’t have to give not one, but two encore performances. He should’ve been tired, he should’ve been beaten down by the road, the studio and the shows. He should have been exhausted. Alas, somehow he was not.

When you play Acid Rap through your car speakers, or in your headphones, the tape is beautiful and bloated. The cover art is a cartoonish picture of Chance, lost in the woods, surrounded by his trippy world, and that’s exactly how the tape plays out. You never fully know where he’s going, but it’s worth the ride. The mixtape oscillates between stratospheric highs and painfully grounded lows. In a live setting, these dynamics are exploded even further. The Chicago acid jazz that influenced the mixtape is as important to the live show as Chance is. Chance frequently gave the floor to the instrumentation as often as he did himself, and the jazz vibe of the show made the emotional intimacy overwhelming. The complexity of Chance‘s songs really plays out a bit more raw in person. This tape is rejuvenating on record, but in a live setting, it’s actually kind of exhausting. Well, it was for the crowd. Chance himself? He just kept on going.

People used to – and still do – complain about seeing Lauryn Hill live because she would take her powerful, soulful songs and turn them into electro-future tracks. Fans wanted the hits, and they weren’t getting them – at least not the way they sound on her album. Chance flips the Lauryn approach on it’s head; where Hill changed her songs, and removed much of what made them soulful, Chance doubles down and super-sizes the soul. There’s trumpet solos by Nico Segal, there’s James Brown-meets-Footwork dance breaks, and on more than one occasion it felt like Chance was going to either breakdown crying or pass out on the spot. Live instrumentation has a way of doing that, especially when soul is involved. In fact, this set was soulful that it transformed the ‘Sco from a basement at a small liberal arts school to a speakeasy playing the latest and coolest jazz. On that stage, Chance wasn’t the latest incarnation of Kanye or Andre. Nah. Chance was the reincarnation Howlin’ Wolf, cooing at the moon, controlling the crowd, feeling every note, every word.

It felt unfair to have this boiling pot of talent trapped in a basement with a  handful of fans jumping and screaming every word to every song, but at the same time it felt so right. When he finished that show, and the tour, it felt like things were winding down for the young kid from Chicago. It felt like he was just finishing one of the longest, most successful, and hardest working years in hip-hop. It was as if he had just finished a marathon. And at the end of the night, as he closed the show with “Chain Smoker,” we felt like that was the moment he would finally give in. We thought the lights would go down, the curtain would fall and he would collapse, exhausted. Instead,  it felt like Chance the Rapper was just getting started.

The post Howlin’ Wolf is Back: A Concert Review and Reflection on Chance The Rapper’s Marathon Year appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Side note: This cover art is fantastic. Long live DBZ.

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