The Big Day

AlbumJul 26 / 201922 songs, 1h 17m 21s
Pop Rap
Popular

What constitutes *The Big Day* for an artist who, at just 26 years of age, has already seen so many? For Grammy-award-winning Chicago MC Chance the Rapper, it’s the release of his first official album, of course, but also the acknowledgment of a crucial personal milestone. The album may follow the unending acclaim for two album-quality “mixtapes” (as designated by Chance himself), the Best Rap Album Grammy, winning BET Humanitarian and NAACP Image awards, and his purchase of the Chicagoist website—but all that pales in comparison to the MC saying “I do” to his longtime girlfriend and the mother of his daughter in March 2019. “My wedding was the best wedding of all time,” Chance tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “They need to make a movie about it. And the type of music that was playing was very similar and very, very inspirational to the music that\'s on this album.” The album, then, is a reflection of life as Chance sees it from that day forward, with Lil Chano embracing his roles as father, husband, and prodigious MC—the man, in and out of his household. To help tell the story, he’s called on some of the most revered voices of the moment (including Megan Thee Stallion, Smino, and DaBaby), and some that might only work this well together if facilitated by someone with Chance’s eclectic musical taste and range (Randy Newman, En Vogue, Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie). “I really wanted to work as a producer and build these tracks up to be stuff that can get played on the day when you bring your kid home for the first time, or at a soccer game, or just skateboarding or whatever you want to do,” he says. “To give them the music that makes you feel like movement.” Just like on *Coloring Book*, there’s gospel running through *The Big Day*, as Chance declares his faith early and often, a devotion matched only by his commitment to his wife and their family. “One thing to always remember/They here today, but we’ll be together forever!” he belts on “I Got You (Always and Forever).” He gets serious about his legacy on songs like “Do You Remember” and “Sun Come Down,” but makes it a point to reassure listeners that everything turns out the way it’s supposed to on “5 Year Plan.” But if there’s anything Chance might like us to take away from the album, it can be heard in his continuous integration of Chicago’s classic house music rhythms and the pop-leaning instrumentation of his band and in-house production crew, The Social Experiment. Like any good groom, he just wants us to dance.

6.9 / 10

Chance’s sprawling, 77-minute “debut” is an exuberant and often wonderful celebration of love and family that struggles to bring depth to his newlywed dad-raps.

A

The Big Day is a stunningly realized array of color, sound, and sensation that swallows the room.

0 / 10

8 / 10

Chancelor Jonathan Bennett returns in style

‘The Big Day’, Chance the Rapper’s debut studio album (following three commercial mixtapes), is a buoyant, cheerful project that looks back on his young, successful career through rose-tinted lenses but, ultimately, doesn’t possess enough depth amidst a mishmash of production and features that make it too long-winded.

6.8 / 10

Chance finally releases his "debut" album. His mixtapes were simply more interesting.

If you took this four-second clip and played it 1,160 consecutive times, you’d get the equivalent of Chance the Rapper’s 77-minute debut album The Big Day—a tribute to Chance’s wife, Kirsten Corley, and a companion album to their wedding, which took place earlier this year in March.

The Chicago rapper’s debut album is like a lot of weddings (long and often quite dull), while Berlin are suffering from an identity crisis

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9 / 10

Those guests offer a vast spectrum of sounds to The Big Day, ensuring its hour-plus runtime never bores.

6 / 10

Chance the Rapper is evidently at a career peak at present. Following eight years of strong work ethic, the rapper has arguably solidified a presence as a

6.5 / 10

'The Big Day' by Chance The Rapper, album review by Adam Fink. The rapper's full-length is now available via Chance The Rapper

The Grammy-winning darling of the US rap scene finally releases his debut album: a candid, cutesy concept album based around his wedding

75 %

The title of Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day could be taken one of several ways: most obviously, it rather cheekily announces the long-awaited arrival of his first album proper and acquiescence to a traditional album release format (i.e. not a mixtape), or, more likely, as his supremely over-the-top coming out party.

2.4 / 5

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