Chance The Rapper’s new album, The Big Day, is out now and Chance is currently in the middle of the media campaign promoting what he’s calling his “debut.” Sitting down for an in-studio interview with Zane Lowe, the recently-married Chicago activist discussed how his life has changed since marrying his longtime sweetheart, the inspiration behind his album’s far-out collaborations (which include Randy Newman and Death Cab For Cutie), and his unusual diet, which apparently doesn’t include vegetables. During the interview, Chance also talks about the themes of each of his projects and how he probably picked a bad concept for his most recent one.
“When I first started working on the album, the concept, the theme,” he explains. “We have school, we have acid, we have faith and family, and the fourth one — really the first one — the concept was ‘Best Album Of All Time’. And that’s not really a good concept to make an album. It gives you no direction.” Chance questions what would make the best album, noting that all the best albums have “a sh*t ton” of long songs, prompting Lowe to ask him what his best album of all time is. Chance thinks about it for a second before admitting, “To me, personally, the best album of all time … Acid Rap.”
Of course, many of Chance’s fans agree; since releasing Coloring Book in 2016 — a game-changing project in its own right — fans and critics have clamored for him to return to the mindset he had going into his breakthrough mixtape. Times change, though. People grow up and find new priorities and inspiration. And as Chance says of his concept of best albums: “You have to be able to dance to it. The best album is not something that I need to listen to with reading glasses.”
