“it ain’t so easy / but it’s not so hard / to stand up / but it’s just too easy / to sit back down”
surf is not a chance the rapper album. surf is not an album by the rapper named chance. chance the rapper has not released an album, but him and his buddies have put together a collaborative project to cleanse your palettes. the sounds bring no chaos, no anger, no discomfort. even though these emotions are not present, there's still a sense of urgency in the music; it urges for positivity, for brighter times instead of the current darker ones, it aims to inspire.
it'd be a mistake to deny immense credit to the talents of donnie trumpet as a musician who can hold it down behind the vocals and in front of them. his tones create great accents and lead great solos. the combination of band instruments and synthetic rap production is always a welcome combination, even if it's not always perfect. going along with that, the lyrics didn't always hit so well, but it seems like it's more about the good vibes than the introspectiveness.
the project has peaks and valleys; when you're riding the top of a wave, it's great, but when you're in those lows, it relaxes a bit too much. still, there's always another peak not too far away.
top 3 + bottom one: slip slide, warm enough, familiar, nothing came to me
five hot takes:
- this isn't a chance the rapper album and you're wrong for thinking that
- the "50 minute interlude" thing is more or less right, it's a very light album
- just because i enjoyed this j. cole verse a lot doesn't make him good
- erykah badu is the best feature on the album
- i probably won't listen to this in full ever again
