Released July 26, 2019
3 / 10
Favorites
Eternal
Least favorites
Hot Shower, Ballin Flossin
"The Big Day" revolves aimlessly in a post-wedding exultation glow, utterly oblivious to how excruciating its 77 minute ceremony is and forcing its pomp and circumstance onto its listeners who just want to get it over with to enjoy the buffet. The first LP from Grammy-winner Chance the Rapper (already 3 studio mixtapes strong) is an eclectic bunch. But most tracks have two things in common that unite them: 1) they're gushing over Chance's fiancé and his vision of love, 2) they are - pardon my French - dull as can be. Chance juggles themes mankind has always been fascinated with but doesn't know what to do with them. Balls drop on the back of dad-rap with no edge, filled with lyrical winks that sound like dad jokes coming from the 26 year old rapper. The record is a tedious one to get through, offering no fresh sound, lacking the dynamism desperately needed to take you from track to track. It dilutes its message in diffuse direction without being overwhelming: it's not that there's a lot to take in, it's just that the jam is spread so thin you'd have to be starving to enjoy its weak flavor. Adding to the overall dismay, Chance strikes a tone of excitement for the future that doesn't sound relatable at all - and, side note, doesn't translate musically at all: at the turn of the decade, uncertainty was certainly one of the main drivers of the social zeitgeist, ushering us in an era where optimism and delusion's dictionary entries read nearly the same. Chance does so much teasing on "The Big Day" before shooting himself in the foot as poor choices pile up on top of other poor choices. Many of the tracks start off with excitement before turning into caricatures of themselves. All Day Long is a perfect example of this. He plays with moments of relative silence and staggering beats to an overall celebratory tone to star with. Along this opener, he acknowledges not being able to please everyone with John Legend's help. Indeed I'm not pleased by this song. Let's first address the lyrics... "Life is short as a midget, but mine's a little LeBron" shouldn't have left the confines of his bathroom walls and his shower curtain. If you can set the weird lyrical choices aside, the first verse gets you in a groove. But then John Legend comes in on steroids with unnecessary ad libs, notes held for what feels like forever and an array of frenetic backing vocals that overlap in a very messy fashion. From then on, the track doesn't get any less confusing. Cherry on top is the strange bridge that sounds almost like a reject that never made a Whitney album from the late 80s - it wasn't good enough to reach the public's ears then, it's certainly not good enough now. Get A Bag is another track that feels exciting for a split second as its chipmunk'd sample leads the way. But then, it grows into a formidable dud - what a way to misuse a sample. It gets on the listener nerves so much and the main melodies do not provide any respite. As if that wasn't enough, Calboy's contribution is abysmal. If I hear one more "yaaah" from Chance!.. Nevertheless, perhaps the biggest letdown is album closer Zanies and Fools - not the worst track by any means but one that doesn't live up to its potential. After Darius Scott's long (1 min!) intro, tribal beats create such excitement it's unheard of at this point in the album. And Chance sustains the excitement with one of his best verses on the entire record without a doubt. The rush of his verse is what the album was lacking. Count on him to throw in a chorus that deflates built-up interest though. He never recovers to reach the initial hype, with his subsequent verses feeling slightly off rhythmically and even Nicki's great verse at the end can't remove the bullet from Chance's foot. "The Big Day" celebrates love all around yet Chance doesn't dive very deep in introspective motions despite the space he creates for himself to do so. A lot of the tracks feel surface-y theme-wise, sounding like they want to sound mature while at the same time conjuring silly images and combining grand themes and cringe-y winks in the same brush strokes. We Go High tries to sound grown-grown, tackling the ups and downs of his relationship with his wife. Chance can't help but sprinkle weird pop culture references that make absolutely no sense and only distract from the message ("My wife nanny like Fran Drescher") as well as just plainly weird lyrics ("They don't take teenage angst at no banks"). His singing is also particularly bad on this track. The Big Day is another track that only skims the surface of his relationship - and one of the most lyrically sparse tracks on the album. Francis and the Lights creates a fantastic backdrop, with stuttering synths and intricate yet simple percussion patterns that resonate so powerfully. The addition of chords make for a bit of cheesy on top but the percussion don't let the track fall on the corny side. Nonetheless, in all honesty, the track is a bit too monotonous - and the moment it's not, Francis goes off on a frantic tangent that feels so very out of place. Found A Good One (Single No More) continues the album tradition of celebrating love for love and not really going into its intricacies or complications. The track has touches of Chicago house, bringing in SWV to add some lightness to the mix. What a mess of a track. The rapping and the house backdrop are clashing like titans and the chorus grows from intriguing to annoying. Also, what in the bridge?! A significant takeaway from the album is that Chance sounds like a man that doesn't know what his own voice sounds like. On "The Big Day", vocally, the good, the bad and the terrible all abound: the record comes across as lacking any form of artistic self-awareness - which is especially telling of Chance since he co-produced all of the tracks on it. On I Got You (Always and Forever), he and collaborators manage to make every single vocal sound particularly ill-fitting. Ari Lennox certainly doesn't deliver on her end - and is not helped one bit by production. The track has so much going on that I feel like taking an Advil thinking about it. If "The Big Day" celebrates Chance's wedding, the plethora of features feel like guests invited to the ceremony and told to respectfully hold their piece as to not outshine the bride. Roo summons CocoRosie in the strangest way, having her contribute a minimal head-scratching chorus that can only be described in one word: why? Throughout the tracklist, Chance cackles as if no one was listening - problem is, we are. His singing is often strained and doesn't bring the best out of his guests either. Let's Go On The Run is a match of lousy vocal performance. Chance decides to scream on his verse; Know Fortune's verse is one of the worst on the record (and there is plenty to choose from!). Vocals are so weak all over it's disheartening. Handsome is yet another example where Chance's delivery doesn't bode well with the beat - too close to Drake's style for comfort. His rap-singing is unnerving and backing vocals on the chorus at the end of his lines sound like a muffled MC that didn't need to be here. Megan is the shining star on the track. Even if she throws in one too many "ayy" she puts what rapping should sound like on "The Big Day" back in its place, front and center. All in all, the album is so lifeless I can't even think of a subset of its tracks that would make for a decent album - Eternal is really the only track I enjoy. The disco riffs and sustained groove are working overtime to energize Chance's lethargic flow before Smino slurs through an incredible verse. As a guest, he demonstrates such range on the delivery side that it almost reminds me of Nicki stealing the show on Kanye's epic "Monster". It wouldn't be a fair representation of the album to end on such a highlight so I'll mention one last track. The tragic Ballin Flossin. Chance didn't have to do Brandy like that... DJ Casper makes listening to this track a cringe-filled experience. This failed experiment features the cheapest beat and dated key play that exhorts the listener to bounce around like the drunk uncle at the wedding that goes around asking girls to dance and won't take 'no' for an answer. "The Big Day" has the something old, the something borrowed, the something blue but is missing the something new. It's hard not to resent Chance for holding such a long wedding ceremony, killing hope after hope of hearing something great before the end with every single one of its tracks.
Favorite lyrics
"Please don't let my death be about my death"
The Big Day
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