Where did Chance go wrong with The Big Day?

the big shit.jpg

On a bright and sunny July 26, 2019 day, rapper Chance The Rapper has released his highly awaited debut studio album The Big Day. Chance was already riding high on the success and hype of his last three mixtapaes, moreso Coloring Book, which became the first streaming-only rap project to win a Grammy and a mixtape to win a Grammy in the Best Rap Album category, an accomplishment of it's own. Coloring Book was a huge success with fans and critics and helped propel Chance's career into new heights. He had high standards set up with the success of Coloring Book for his new album, but sadly he could not reach it. With star-studded, A-list features like John Legend, Smino, DaBaby, Ari Lennox, Francis and the Lights, Megan Thee Stallion, Gucci Mane, Shawn Mendes, Lil Durk, Nicki Minaj, SWV and even his own brother Taylor Bennett; fans were left blue-balled with this album and it left a huge stain for Chance.

I met Kanye West. I am never going to fail.

After the massive success of Coloring Book, all eyes were on Chance's next album. In 2016, he revealed that he is interested in shifting his musical focus into an album rather than another mixtape. In 2018, Kanye West set a residence in Wyoming to enable his mindset into his career. Working with G.O.O.D. music artists such as Nas and Teyana Taylor, he would go on to produce 7-track albums for Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Teyana Taylor, Nas and himself. These were known as the Wyoming Sessions. This era coincides with the famed YANDHI era. Chance The Rapper announced that him and Kanye West were also making an album of their own. This album would go on to be titled Good Ass Job, which shares a name with Kanye West's original album that would have ended the college trilogy back in 2009-2010 which would later become My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Good Ass Job would eventually collapse and be quietly swept under the rug as Kanye West was putting most of his focus into YANDHI, which would eventually spiritually transform into Jesus Is King. He was originally supposed to release the album a summer earlier in July of 2018, but for unknown reasons, he has pushed his project back. Leaving his fans hungry, he would release miscellaneous singles such as 65th & Ingleside and I Might Need Security. He would later go on to have a sonically quiet year, making his voice known through public appearances, social media posts, endorsements, etc.

Featuring a cover art of a light-skinned hand holding up a diamond-encrusted compact disc in front of what seems like a yard with a children's basketball hoop, Chance the Rapper would go on to release his debut studio album, The Big Day. What seemed like a big step in Chance's remarkable career would leave damning effects for him and his fanbase. Described by critics as a bridge between pop rap and gospel rap, the lyrical content and theme of this album is about marriage and family. This follows his real-life marriage with his longtime lover, Kirsten Corley, in March of 2019. The album debuted #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 108,000 (27,000 in pure sales) first week. Critics reviewed this album generally positive with Metacritic rating this a 71 out of 100 and AnyDecentMusic? giving this a 6.8 out of 10. Popular music reviewer Anthony Fantano, however, gave this album a strong 0 while dubbing it The Big Mess. This album faced huge backlash from fans. Spawning memes, most infamously this one, fans expressed their overall distaste and disappointment with the album. Longtime Chance The Rapper fans noticed that this album's sound was regressed compared to his other materials and that Chance had gone pop. Fans have also felt annoyed by how much Chance had talked about his wife on his album, with even Genius getting in on the fun. The release thread of the album on popular hip hop and rap subreddit r/hiphopheads gives an even more in depth look at the fan reception of the album. Here are some of the responses:

how can a 1h17m album be three hours too long

If chance ever gets divorced he gon drop a classic

the big day extracts a heavy toll

I’n sticking to cold showers from now on...

Chance really saw drake drop scorpion and said hold my bible

Just got a Charmin toilet paper jingle ad and legit thought it was a track on this album

And so on. The aftermath does not end here. He would eventually cancel his tour after just five shows, citing that he wanted to spend more time with his family; though there were heavy speculations that the tour got canceled due to low ticket sales. He had sold out large stadiums and tours before, so this would work again right? Chance had also revealed that he felt as if people were out for him and wanted him to kill himself due to the awful backlash the album received. Chance had also sued his ex-manager for a plethora of things, including the failure for The Big Day. A rough moment for Chance The Rapper's career indeed.

Though it seems that the storm has cleared, the album has grown onto a lot of fans. Back to the question of where did Chance go wrong? Just like any other artistically innovative artist, Chance The Rapper took a huge risk. He changed his iconic sound, a sound that has made him and his fans, and he created something new. What he created was not taken lightly. A new vision only Chance, himself, could see. This change of sound is very similar to Kanye West's change of sound with his album Jesus Is King, which was also released in 2019. Kanye walked away from his usual secular music and now-temporarily converted his life to Christ and released a gospel album. This album received mixed reviews from fans. What Chance did was not necessarily wrong in any way, it just needs to be known that you can not please everyone. Who knows, in five years The Big Day might be considered to be a big classic. On Friday, he had released a new song titled Child of God; continuing his gospel-influenced style, which was met with praise from critics. His new album comes out on Friday. Hopefully, this album will have a place in the heart of his fans.
 
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On a bright and sunny July 26, 2019 day, rapper Chance The Rapper has released his highly awaited debut studio album The Big Day. Chance was already riding high on the success and hype of his last three mixtapaes, moreso Coloring Book, which became the first streaming-only rap project to win a Grammy and a mixtape to win a Grammy in the Best Rap Album category, an accomplishment of it's own. Coloring Book was a huge success with fans and critics and helped propel Chance's career into new heights. He had high standards set up with the success of Coloring Book for his new album, but sadly he could not reach it. With star-studded, A-list features like John Legend, Smino, DaBaby, Ari Lennox, Francis and the Lights, Megan Thee Stallion, Gucci Mane, Shawn Mendes, Lil Durk, Nicki Minaj, SWV and even his own brother Taylor Bennett; fans were left blue-balled with this album and it left a huge stain for Chance.



After the massive success of Coloring Book, all eyes were on Chance's next album. In 2016, he revealed that he is interested in shifting his musical focus into an album rather than another mixtape. In 2018, Kanye West set a residence in Wyoming to enable his mindset into his career. Working with G.O.O.D. music artists such as Nas and Teyana Taylor, he would go on to produce 7-track albums for Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Teyana Taylor, Nas and himself. These were known as the Wyoming Sessions. This era coincides with the famed YANDHI era. Chance The Rapper announced that him and Kanye West were also making an album of their own. This album would go on to be titled Good Ass Job, which shares a name with Kanye West's original album that would have ended the college trilogy back in 2009-2010 which would later become My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Good Ass Job would eventually collapse and be quietly swept under the rug as Kanye West was putting most of his focus into YANDHI, which would eventually spiritually transform into Jesus Is King. He was originally supposed to release the album a summer earlier in July of 2018, but for unknown reasons, he has pushed his project back. Leaving his fans hungry, he would release miscellaneous singles such as 65th & Ingleside and I Might Need Security. He would later go on to have a sonically quiet year, making his voice known through public appearances, social media posts, endorsements, etc.

Featuring a cover art of a light-skinned hand holding up a diamond-encrusted compact disc in front of what seems like a yard with a children's basketball hoop, Chance the Rapper would go on to release his debut studio album, The Big Day. What seemed like a big step in Chance's remarkable career would leave damning effects for him and his fanbase. Described by critics as a bridge between pop rap and gospel rap, the lyrical content and theme of this album is about marriage and family. This follows his real-life marriage with his longtime lover, Kirsten Corley, in March of 2019. The album debuted #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 108,000 (27,000 in pure sales) first week. Critics reviewed this album generally positive with Metacritic rating this a 71 out of 100 and AnyDecentMusic? giving this a 6.8 out of 10. Popular music reviewer Anthony Fantano, however, gave this album a strong 0 while dubbing it The Big Mess. This album faced huge backlash from fans. Spawning memes, most infamously this one, fans expressed their overall distaste and disappointment with the album. Longtime Chance The Rapper fans noticed that this album's sound was regressed compared to his other materials and that Chance had gone pop. Fans have also felt annoyed by how much Chance had talked about his wife on his album, with even Genius getting in on the fun. The release thread of the album on popular hip hop and rap subreddit r/hiphopheads gives an even more in depth look at the fan reception of the album. Here are some of the responses:













And so on. The aftermath does not end here. He would eventually cancel his tour after just five shows, citing that he wanted to spend more time with his family; though there were heavy speculations that the tour got canceled due to low ticket sales. He had sold out large stadiums and tours before, so this would work again right? Chance had also revealed that he felt as if people were out for him and wanted him to kill himself due to the awful backlash the album received. Chance had also sued his ex-manager for a plethora of things, including the failure for The Big Day. A rough moment for Chance The Rapper's career indeed.

Though it seems that the storm has cleared, the album has grown onto a lot of fans. Back to the question of where did Chance go wrong? Just like any other artistically innovative artist, Chance The Rapper took a huge risk. He changed his iconic sound, a sound that has made him and his fans, and he created something new. What he created was not taken lightly. A new vision only Chance, himself, could see. This change of sound is very similar to Kanye West's change of sound with his album Jesus Is King, which was also released in 2019. Kanye walked away from his usual secular music and now-temporarily converted his life to Christ and released a gospel album. This album received mixed reviews from fans. What Chance did was not necessarily wrong in any way, it just needs to be known that you can not please everyone. Who knows, in five years The Big Day might be considered to be a big classic. On Friday, he had released a new song titled Child of God; continuing his gospel-influenced style, which was met with praise from critics. His new album comes out on Friday. Hopefully, this album will have a place in the heart of his fans.
lol
 
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