2016 was Chance The Rapper‘s year and it’s already looking like 2017 will follow suit, having been announced as a Grammy nominee and performer, as well as promoting merchandise honouring the Obama family, a recent influx of social media posts about his daughter, and more. Chano has now debuted the fourth music video from his acclaimed, Grammy nominated Colouring Book mixtape.
The video is for deep cut Same Drugs, a song he described as “the hardest to write” on the tape. While the surface level of its lyrics suggest a fairly simply storyline, the deeper meaning of the relatively melancholic song is about loss and change, specifically looking at the relationship between Chance and a childhood friend, reflecting on how their interests and personalities have differed.
Debuted on Facebook Live (which Chance explained to be a bit of a hassle), the visual builds upon these nostalgic influences. Styled as a vintage TV style appearance, the faded video opens with Chance channelling his inner crooner, singing by a grand piano joined by a somewhat creepy life-size puppet, the same who joined him on his Magnificent Colouring World Tour. While the video opens very simplistically, it’s not long until we realise this is actually an alternate version of the single, which expands to feature vocals from singers Eryn Allen Kane, Yebba, John Legend, Francis Starlite and Macie Stewart.
Directed by Jake Schreier, the same man behind his other artistic Colouring Book cuts, No Problem, Angels, and How Great, the video of course takes creative twist in the closing stages of the clip. Snow begins to fall, and as Chano steps off the stage the video flips back into the HD, signifying his return to the present day rather than his reflective self, and as he walks out of the studio, we realise all those in control of the show are simply puppets.
No doubt Chance The Rapper will be making headlines later on this week as he performs at this year’s Grammy Awards, where he is sure to cash in on a few of his seven award nominations, which includes Best New Artist and Best Rap Album. Check out the video below!
Image: YouTube – Chance The Rapper