The uplifting Coloring Book makes profound use of Millennial nostalgia. If adulthood truly is in crisis, one sign might be popular music's anxious relationship with childhood. The recent 21 Pilots hit "Stressed Out" suggests a generation wishing to return to a time "when our momma sang us to sleep."
Devil will win employee of the month by the dozen
'Til one score and three years from the third when he doesn't Chance the Rapper (Ft. Jay Electronica & Nicole Steen) – How Great
'Til one score and three years from the third when he doesn't Chance the Rapper (Ft. Jay Electronica & Nicole Steen) – How Great
What is this?
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I speak of wondrous, unfamiliar lessons from childhood
Make you remember how to smile good Chance the Rapper (Ft. Anderson .Paak, BJ the Chicago Kid, Raury & Ty Dolla $ign) – Blessings (Reprise)
Make you remember how to smile good Chance the Rapper (Ft. Anderson .Paak, BJ the Chicago Kid, Raury & Ty Dolla $ign) – Blessings (Reprise)
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
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A positive review from the Atlantic offers some interesting insights on how this mixtape “makes profound use of Millennial nostalgia.”
I prayed and prayed and left messages
But never got no hear-back or so it seemed
A mustard seed was all I needed to sow a dream Chance the Rapper (Ft. Jay Electronica & Nicole Steen) – How Great
But never got no hear-back or so it seemed
A mustard seed was all I needed to sow a dream Chance the Rapper (Ft. Jay Electronica & Nicole Steen) – How Great
What is this?
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Found warmth in a Black queen for when I get cold like Nat King
I'm doing the dad thing Chance the Rapper (Ft. Anderson .Paak, BJ the Chicago Kid, Raury & Ty Dolla $ign) – Blessings (Reprise)
I'm doing the dad thing Chance the Rapper (Ft. Anderson .Paak, BJ the Chicago Kid, Raury & Ty Dolla $ign) – Blessings (Reprise)
What is this?
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What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
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Genius should just be my bible
Gotta annotate for these dumb niggas (watch out, watch out)
I'm just foolin', boy, I'm just havin' fun with ya
Tetsuo was genius smart but when that Drogas drop on your computers
Fuck Genius boy, you gon' need a genius bar, god damn Lupe Fiasco – Express
Gotta annotate for these dumb niggas (watch out, watch out)
I'm just foolin', boy, I'm just havin' fun with ya
Tetsuo was genius smart but when that Drogas drop on your computers
Fuck Genius boy, you gon' need a genius bar, god damn Lupe Fiasco – Express
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
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https://twitter.com/LupeFiasco/status/762836352119345152
Lupe draws parallels between lyric website Genius (the one you’re reading) and the Bible (which is annotated on Genius). In the same way scholars transcribed and interpreted God’s message in the Bible, Genius scholars transcribe and annotate Lupe’s lyrics.
Lupe has earned several Genius-affiliated titles including Rap Genius' “Proust of Rap” and “King of Lyrical Trickiness.” His 2015 album Tetsuo & Youth was widely regarded as his most intricate work to date but it looks like DROGAS may even top that.
Rather than paying upwards of $47,000 in Harvard tuition fees, you could just come to Genius and jump down the rabbit hole of Lupe’s work.
Still, even he acknowledges that may not be enough. Lupe uses “genius” and “bar” as homonyms, alluding to both Apple’s Genius Bar of computer specialists, Genius the website, and a musical bar.
His “watch out, watch out” adlib is a reference to 2 Chainz’s “Watch Out.”
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
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8 years
Yo, yo, I still got a little bit more, hol' up
He told me to let it breathe so, aight Add-2 – 10,000 Hours (30 Hours Freestyle)
He told me to let it breathe so, aight Add-2 – 10,000 Hours (30 Hours Freestyle)
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
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What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Chance mentions his girlfriend frequently throughout Coloring Book. As he rapped on “All We Got”:
Chance hopes for a long-lasting relationship with the mother of his daughter, despite the inevitable arguments that arise as a natural part of parenthood. He compares these “lows” to a baritone, a vocal range that falls between the bass and tenor voice types.
If a lifelong relationship with her is considered a marathon, then perhaps “happily ever after” is Chance’s finish line.
“Deeper than a baritone” is from Kanye’s verse on Can’t Stop by Theophilus London
The “arguments as parents” line could reference that as newer parents raising a child together brings new kinds of conflict, and some may pertain to the different ways they were themselves raised and they now are considering ways their parents were right or wrong in their methods.