Chance the Rapper’s “Work Out”—one of four new songs he released last night—is twee rap about big transitions in his personal life. He surveys his standing as a new dad who has also become one of hip-hop’s most popular acts, marveling at how fast it’s all happening. But this sing-song lullaby lacks his usual intuition and imagination; it’s far from the spirit-lifting psalms of Coloring Book.
Over xylophone chimes and gushing keyboards courtesy of frequent collaborators Nate Fox, Lido, Nico Segal, and Su$h! Ceej, Chance sometimes devolves to baby talk and nursery rhyme cadences. “Had to buy a crib, ’fore I bought my first house/Had my first kid, I love how she turned out,” he raps. “I’ma have so many seeds, I could have a birdhouse.” Chance usually raps with a nuance that turns even the most minute-seeming interactions into a cinematic experience, and it’s curious that he doesn’t apply that same vision toward some of the most important choices in his life here. Perhaps he’s in a transitional period musically, too.
