Chance the Rapper’s new project Coloring Book is hot off the presses and an absolute joy, and to mark the occasion, the Chicago gamechanger teamed up with Complex for an interview in the latest issue of their magazine. Video of the chat has just been released, and Chance takes time out to answer questions about the daunting recording process of his last two releases, as well as Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and the plans and whereabouts of the increasingly elusive Frank Ocean.
Chance detailed being tapped by Kanye West to appear on Pablo back when it was a ten-song project and helping tease out “Ultralight Beams,” which lead to a widening of the scope of what the album could be. He fixated on “Waves” to a point that he got the original album title Swish changed to Waves before West settled on the final title. The night after Kanye’s February Madison Square Garden Yeezy Season 3 show was spent furiously finishing the album before rehearsals for the duo’s Saturday Night Live appearance, and “Waves” took top priority at Chance’s urging, as Kanye would reveal hilariously on Twitter.
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We also got some clarity about how last year’s Social Experiment band album Surf came into existence. Donnie Trumpet took the lead because his tracks were the furthest along, so the proper Acid Rap follow-up hung on the backburner. Chance also details Busta Rhymes bringing the dearly departed Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest by the studio while recording his verse for Surf’s “Slip Slide” and receiving a heart-warming compliment from the Queens legend.
Re: Frank Ocean, Chance swears the singer is holed up purposefully out of view. “No one is really able to find Frank when Frank goes away,” he says. “But I know he’s away making a masterpiece.” Watch the full interview below.
