Today, NPR released the highly awaited Tiny Desk concert from multiple Grammy-winner Chance The Rapper and, unsurprisingly, the Chicago native did a “good-ass job.” In the video, after introducing the members of his band (The Social Experiment), proclaiming that he’s a big fan of the video concert series, giving props to Tiny Desk contest winners Tank and the Bangas, and prompting laughs from the intimate crowd with his realization that the segments are, in fact, shot in an office, Chance and company slide into a slinky, minimalist reading of Coloring Book single “Juke Jam” to open the set. By the time they finish with a moving, chorally-tinged cover of 1974 Stevie Wonder tune “They Won’t Go When I Go” (dedicated to “someone close to me, who just lost someone close to them”), you can practically hear the sound of NPR’s middle-aged target audience texting their kids and young colleagues about how they’re now big fans of “that Chance Rapper guy.”
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But despite the strength of these opening and closing tunes, the set’s true highlight comes sandwiched in between: a brand new poem, written specifically for the occasion. According to NPR, “Chance The Rapper knew he wanted to try a different approach for his Tiny Desk performance, so he decided to do something he said he hadn’t done in a long time. He wrote a poem. More specifically, he wrote a poem in the short time it took him to ride from his hotel in Washington, D.C. to the NPR Music offices. Calling it ‘The Other Side,’ Chance debuted it in the middle of his remarkable set, reading from his notes written out in black marker on sheets of typing paper.”
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Chance delivers the poem, with his trademark grace and humility, a powerful rumination on life, both then and now, what is and what could be. In the video, he begins the dream-like soliloquy before an announcement on the office PA interrupts the recitation, prompting laughs, quick quips, and a mulligan on the poem. But this just allowed the audience one more chance to soak up Chance’s unique artistic wisdom as he read off hand-written sheets of loose-leaf paper. You can read a transcript of “The Other Side” below:
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“I still have all the keys that are of no use to me. They used to, though. On the other side was a mansion on a hill, complete with LA pools and fireplaces and a rim made specifically for people who lie about being six feet to dunk on. Where a piano was for decoration, and an old record player was actually for the hoes. I was never awakened by the twisting of a doorknob, benzos kissed me goodnight. The bars finally stopped working. They used to, though. On the other side was a presidential suite, complete with living rooms, and empty beds, and a rainfall shower head fixture, and the freedom to smoke big dope. And smoking fees, also. And the possibility of making a beautiful girl i just met map out in her mind just how many times she could fit her apartment in this room, if I could just get in. The cards stopped working. They used to, though. On the other side was a family, complete with carpet stains and big loves, and ‘it’s your turns,’ and toys all over the place. I almost fell and broke my fuckin’ neck. And responsibility, and refrigerator magnets, and days on the couch, and nights on the couch, and lines drawn in the sand, and comebacks that crossed the line…And [trumpet plays] a horn line from our favorite make-up song plays, and just like that–we’ve rehabbed a home. The barge stopped working. I still have all the keys that are of no use to me. They used to work, though.”
You can watch Chance The Rapper’s moving NPR Tiny Desk concert below:
Next up for Chance is a performance at the UK’s Wireless Festival on Friday, July 7th. He will also headline several large-scale domestic festivals later this summer, including Lollapalooza and Life Is Beautiful. For a full list of Chance The Rapper’s upcoming dates, head to his website.