Weed Lifestyle

Great Music While High: Chance the Rapper | Source: http://www.djsemtex.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Portrait_v.Final_.jpg“Raps just make me anxious/and acid made me crazy/them squares just made me looser/and that wax just made me lazy/and I still make this song/and I’m a make another…”

Music can often be the perfect thing to convey a certain mood or place in time. For anyone looking for something that sounds like the pure joy of youth, I can think of no better example than the 14 songs on Acid Rap, the latest mixtape from still teenaged Chance the Rapper. Based in Chicago, Chance started making beats and rapping after being suspended from high school for ten days for smoking weed, hence the name of his first mixtape 10 Day.

Chance gained instant recognition with his first tracks and went on to create Acid Rap, a collection of tracks that gleefully discusses the joys of being high on all kinds of things, messing around with friends, falling in love, and making music. His voice often feels like it’s about to crack, but is so spot on with the expertly produced beats that it works perfectly.

Songs like “Pushaman” and “Smoke Again” have obvious stoner connections, but what really makes Chance’s writing great is the lines on the latter song like this:

“Flip the candy yum/that’s the fucking bombest/lean all on the square/that’s a fuckin’ rhombus”

Chance is killin' it.

Chance is killin’ it.

It’s simple and funny and connected to a time that I think can easily feel out of touch for most adults, a time where things were simple and easy. The music and rhymes seem to flow freely out of Chance, and several tracks seem to start with some kind of warm up where he melodically sings something like “yeah” over and over, like a mantra for a prize fighter about to step in the ring.

“NaNa” features a crazy guest spot from Action Bronson, as well as a personal favorite, a sample from A Tribe Called Quest’s Freddie Hubbard-sampling track. The Bronson verse is one of many guests that Chance has drop by what often feels like his bedroom studio. It’s the intimate feel of the mixtape throughout that makes it work so well, from the hyped-up “Juice” to the Stevie Wonder-esque “That’s Love.”

Chance the Rapper sets a high bar with a complete vision in Acid Rap, and one can really only be very excited for what he might do in the future. The fun, upbeat and super solid songs on the mixtape are perfect for a killer blunt sesh.

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great Music While High series!