In my Rap Up for May, I mentioned that Chance the Rapper’s Surf, accredited to Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, was my favorite release of the entire year. That’s not a hyperbole; it’s every bit as stellar and stands out among a lineup of strong releases from the biggest players in hip-hop. I strongly implore you to check it out and listen, as it’s quite easy to do so since it was released for free on iTunes. With this release, Chance is proving to be much more than just “the Rapper,” emerging as the pioneer of a much-needed revolution in music. This isn’t an album review, but more of a pause in time to reflect on an icon in the making.
It’s impossible to separate what Chance, born Chancellor Bennett, is currently releasing and how he is going about the production process. Musically, Surf is almost beyond anything else you’ll hear so far this year and miles beyond the rest of his genre, aside from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Like Kendrick’s album, Surf experiments with many live instruments and non-traditional hip-hop beats. The instrumentals on this album evoke every morsel of musicality out of every feature, cameo, and line uttered. It’s an album that crosses so many plateaus of time and space that it’ll feel like going to the moon and back in a 1955 Chevy Nomad. There is so much overwhelming positivity and strong music pouring from every note through the flutes, trumpets, french horns, and many other weapons of choice in Donnie Trumpet’s arsenal that it’s difficult to not want to act your life out as a musical and dance the day away.
The dominant theme throughout the entire listening experience of Surf is the sense of a collaborative effort. By not listing the featured artists in the track list and releasing under the moniker Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment, the constraints of expectations are lifted. The listener is able to enjoy an album full of surprises guests, unconventional sound pairings, and wholesome, real messages worth contemplating in everyday life. The album was released without a proper single; save “Sunday Candy”, most everything on the LP was unreleased and unheard by nearly everyone. Another one of the underlying themes that ebbs consistently throughout is a tangible, uplifting feeling. It’s reflected in the music and in the lyrics, which is all a testament to Bennett, the man orchestrating this massive musical event.
Chance recently sat down with The FADER, as many buzzing artists do. However, he opted to have as much of The Social Experiment featured as possible with him. As I mentioned, he didn’t even release Surf under his own name. Chance is very active in the Chicago community, hosting open-mic events, participating in community outreach, and giving back to the arts around the city as much as possible. In one piece on Chance in the Chicago Tribune, the artist was asked why he was releasing his work for free.
“It puts the focus on the music instead of the money behind it,” Chance said. “We’re trying to bend genres, play with time and presentation. It makes people want to dive in. When people have that interaction, it’s healthier for the artist and the music. There will be a lot of kids who are gonna want to play the trumpet because of this project. Music was a first-person experience before the industry came along, and it will be again. We’ll be a success because we’re early in recognizing that. The revolution is coming. Where do you want to be when it happens?”
As a music fan, wouldn’t you want your favorite artists this engaged with the fan experience? Don’t you want someone to lead a movement that breeds creativity and optimism? Of course, you do. And that’s exactly what Chance and The Social Experiment have set out to do.
Surf has over 20 collaborations that are unannounced and unexpectedly perfect. What other album pulls in the likes of Busta Rhymes, J. Cole, Quavo of Migos, Big Sean, and Erykah Badu as well as many others and play it off as seamless? With so many examples of the anti-role model in entertainment, it’s beautiful to find someone to root for who is a true leader and wants to leave the world behind a better place. By not limiting themselves to any genre or format, Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment put out the best listening experience in music since Kendrick Lamar’s debut album. Furthermore, I don’t think there has been a more cohesive project since Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Chance’s own social experiment — with an album experience of direct fan interaction, community engagement, and tradition-busting tunes — has emerged as the most refreshing thing to happen within the music industry in quite some time.
Chance the Rapper is here to stay and slated to be as influential and important as Kanye West, if not more so. Please, do yourself a favor and go listen to Surf today.
