Review: Chance The Rapper returns to form at The Fillmore.
It’s been a long six years for Chance the Rapper fans, who awaited the return of a rapper once deemed a leading voice in hip-hop.
In interviews, the Grammy-winning rapper said his absence was due to a combination of personal matters and the negative reception of his debut album, The Big Day, released in 2019.
It was a lofty conceptual album, aimed at promoting the sanctity of marriage in a genre that largely treated it as taboo. But the album was a colossal misfire that slowed Chance’s momentum and forced him to go back to the drawing board.
Chance’s follow-up, Star Line, proved that one unfavorably received project doesn’t define him. And with his performance at The Fillmore on Wednesday night, it appears he and his fanbase are fully realigned.
“And … we back,” Chance said to the crowd.
For the fourth stop in Chance’s 15-city “And We Back Tour,” he stepped up to the main music hall stage at The Fillmore with a microphone in hand.
It was a mild entrance for an artist of Chance’s stature, who was atop the 2017 Grammy stage to receive the award for Best New Artist. But it appears Chance has accepted that new ground needs to be covered and familiar rites of passage need to be traveled.
No hype man or dancers, no surprise guests or onstage theatrics. Just him and longtime collaborator Peter Cottontail steering the crowd with hits from Acid Rap; Coloring Book; and his latest album, with the lyrics to his songs projected on a background screen.
“This is going to be a great show,” said Chance, as he circled the stage. “Y’all got me in a flow state.”
Donning an all-black outfit complete with a tasseled Star Line jacket, Chance kicked off the show with “Star Side Intro,” alluding to his journey from being an underachieving high school student to his astronomical climb as a diamond-selling artist.
He then shifted to uptempo tracks like “Ride,” “Drapetomia,” and “Gun In Your Purse,” before weaving in slower, more heartfelt records like ”Back To The Go” and “Just A Drop.”
He was nearly brought to tears reciting the lyrics of “Pretty,” a moment met with added cheers from concertgoers. “Sometimes I think she was the love of my life. So, when I’m alone, sometimes I think that I’m dead,” he rapped as his voice briefly trembled.
It was a small look inside the life of Chance, who’s been purposefully private on the matters of his recent divorce from ex-wife Kirsten Corley, and his upward climb back to rap stardom.
Between the cuts from his latest album, Chance flashed back to decades-old classics like “Juke Juke,” “All Night,” “Blessings,” and the monster hit “No Problems,” inciting the entire crowd to jump from their feet.
While the crowd was engaged throughout his performance, Chance appeared out of sync at certain moments. Either his lyrics were too far in front of him, or he was slowing down to recapture the song’s tempo.
If not for the screen displaying his lyrics, sometimes it was hard to decipher which point he was on during certain tracks.
By the second half of the show, the stage rust was well-shed. He changed from his Star Line jacket to a plain black T-shirt and launched a medley of immersive and crowd-swaying records.
The show was divided by a series of brief intermissions, cut scenes of political leaders and socially conscious entertainers, and set design changes.
For the song “Letters,” an introspective critical look at Christian churches and religious sanctuaries throughout the country, Chance performed from inside a fixed performance box.
The song ends with digital flames rising from the back screen and reflecting on Chance’s body. It may not have fit within the larger performance itself, but it was a welcome dose of performance art that elevated the show.
He went on to perform “Speed of Light, “Just A Drop,“ and ”Ultralight Beam," three records that transformed the Fillmore into a place of shared worship. “I hope y’all feel the spirit, man,” Chance said to the crowd.
The medley of spiritual records is fitting for an artist who began vocalizing his religious awakening on Coloring Book, still his biggest project to date.
Star Line was also reflective of new developments. Before performing “The Negro Problem,” a song named after a compilation of essays by W. E. B. Du Bois and Paul Laurence Dunbar, he described the inspiration for the song.
“It’s about the concept of intersectionality,” Chance said while atop an elevated platform. “Certain things impact us all, and the more we look at the center, the better we’ll all be.”
Chance closed out the 90-minute show with “Speed of Love,” a should-be Grammy contender featuring Philly’s own Jazmine Sullivan.
Before the final curtain call, he left a thank you to the fans who waited for his return and paid to see him back in form. “Thank y’all for holding it down for 10-plus years,” he said. “I appreciate the love.”
