Events

[HIP HOP] A lot of people might say that Chance The Rapper picked up where Kanye West left off after Graduation. And that’s true to a degree: where Kanye went on to explore his darker, more experimental side, Chance doubled down on the chopped up soul productions, and the Christian boy with a penchant for drug use trope. And of course, they’re both from Chicago and they’re both “underdogs” at the top of the hip hop game right now. But at the same time, it would be a massive disservice to call Chance the Rapper simply a Kanye West rip off, though the inspiration is clearly there and Chance has never denied it. Instead, what we have is kind of an unbroken continuity between West and Chance, maybe not unlike say Madonna (with whom Chance has collaborated) and Lady Gaga, (with whom Kanye, uh, almost worked with once). Chance, is by all means his own star, breaking through in 2013 with Acid Rap, a soul drenched hip hop album that was seen as an alternative to much of the drill rap coming out of Chicago at the time. His latest record, 2016’s Coloring Book (which he referred to as “Chance 3” in his verse on Kanye’s “Ultralight Beam”) is a critically acclaimed achievement from the 24-year-old rapper—featuring everyone from Future to Anderson Paak—which fans are still unpacking a year after its release. Earlier this year Buffalo was treated to an appearance by Kanye at the KeyBank Center, and now Chance follows with a date at Darien Lake this Wednesday, May 31.