Chance the Rapper was invited to perform on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” this past Monday, Sept. 25, where he decided to debut his new song.
Apparently, it is a rarity for musical guests to earn a couple of minutes and a conversation with Colbert on his talk show; Chance was an exception.
Before the performance, Chance chatted with Colbert about his latest appearance at the Emmy Awards, during which he threw out some lines about social justice and police brutality — in the video, he raps, “just imagine taking action.”
They also talked a little bit about Chance’s opinion on politics (he doesn’t show much interest in being Chicago’s next mayor #ChanoForMayor), his passion for seeing growth in Chicago Public Schools and also his personal faith. He explained what his line “singing is praying twice” means and even sang a personal rendition of “This is the Day” — his favorite church hymn.
Originally, the rapper had planned on performing one of the tracks from his latest project “Coloring Book” titled “Grown Ass Kid” but at the last minute decided to do something new. Chance explained that it was for “reasons I don’t really want to talk about.”
He also added jokingly: “I’ve been in the studio a lot lately — I’ve been cooking up some yammers.”
He wrote the song Saturday, Sept. 23, just in time for “The Late Show” Monday night at 10:35 p.m., which airs weeknights on CBS. The song features Canadian singer-songwriter, Daniel Caesar.
The song — which doesn’t even have a title yet — includes lines like “I really need a break / I could really use a nap,” and “my daughter barely recognize me when I lose the hat.” Chance reveals a whole new side to his fame, unapologetically offering the idea that it’s really not all that.
“I go to church / they wanna flick / I wanna flip the table.” He goes on: “It ain’t really fun to hang out with me no more / can’t go to River East or hang at the beach no more.”
During the song, he says casually: “alright, the Spirit’s moving now,” once again pointing back to God. His faith is something that he insistently refers to in his work and words.
Not only so, but his attitude in this regard continues to reveal more about the artist he has become over the years as well as any unannounced projects that he may currently be working on and “cooking up.”