10 Years Later, Chance The Rapper Brings "Coloring Book" Back to Minneapolis

Written by: Precious Drew

I knew I was in for a good night when I walked into The Armory and saw just how packed it was. Chance The Rapper brought his Coloring Book 10-year anniversary tour to Minneapolis on Tuesday, October 6, with New Orleans native, La Reezy, opening the show.

Released in May 2016, Coloring Book was a defining moment in Chance’s career. The mixtape blended gospel, hip-hop and soulful live instrumentation in a way that felt different from what was happening in mainstream music at the time. Ten years later, the project still has a way of bringing people together.

Before Chance took the stage, 22-year-old La Reezy showed Minneapolis exactly why he was a great choice for the tour.

Proudly representing New Orleans, La Reezy brought the bounce and party feel you would expect from a NOLA artist, but with plenty of lyricism and storytelling mixed in. He incorporated legendary songs like “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 into his set and had the audience chanting his name by the end.

One of my favorite moments came when he shared a story about asking his father for money to help support his music career. He played his dad a song he had written about haters and guns, and his father reminded him that he didn't have either of those things and encouraged him to put love into the world so that love could come back to him. La Reezy then performed a song called “HARDHEAD” inspired by that conversation, with the lyrics, “Should’ve listened to my mother. Should’ve listened to my father.”

For an artist performing in Minneapolis for the first time, La Reezy made a strong first impression. By the time he walked offstage, the crowd was chanting his name again. I think Minneapolis would happily have him back.

During a roughly 25-minute transition, Chance’s DJ kept the crowd entertained with everything from Childish Gambino’s “3005” to music from Chance’s mentor, Kanye West. The building got noticeably louder as songs like “All Falls Down” played, and the anticipation only grew.

Then the lights went dark.

“We want Chance” chants filled The Armory as Chance finally appeared and

opened with “All We Got.” From there, the night became a trip through Coloring Book, his larger catalog and the music that made so many people fans in the first place.

The crowd sang along to “Summer Friends,” “Blessings” and “Angels,” but when “No Problems” came on, the entire building went crazy. Chance even asked everyone to put their phones away and just enjoy the moment. The crowd listened, and suddenly, The Armory felt less like a concert being recorded and more like a concert people were actually experiencing.

One thing that stood out throughout the night was how much Chance actually performed. There were minimal background vocals, and Chance wasn't simply rapping along to a track. You could hear his voice, his breath control and his delivery. The same was true for La Reezy. In an era where live performances can sometimes feel like artists performing over their own recordings, watching both artists genuinely perform was refreshing.

There was a brief stretch where the pace slowed down. Chance asked the crowd if they liked improv and launched into jokes, stories about performing at the Minnesota State Fair and a freestyle before moving into Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and Usher’s “My Boo.” He eventually pulled out what he called his “special mic,” which included auto-tune. The segment lasted around 15 minutes, which was probably the biggest lull of the night for me, although it gave fans a chance to grab a drink and catch their breath.

The music picked back up with “Smoke Break,” followed by “Juke Jam,” when phone lights filled the room as the crowd sang along.

Then came “Sunday Candy.”

This is one of my all-time favorite Chance songs, and hearing it live took me right back to 2014. It has that feeling of waking up at Grandma’s house on a Sunday morning with cousins all over the living room. The song also brought a fun moment for the audience as Chance jumped into the pit, put the mic to the mouth of several fans and allowed them to sing the chorus directly into the microphone. Some of the vocals were questionable, but nobody cared. They were having the time of their lives.

Chance also made plenty of room for the faith that has always been part of his music. After performing “Finish Line / Drown,” he stopped to talk about God and told the audience that he had prayed over them before coming onstage and prayed that God would work through him during the performance.

“I serve an awesome God,” he told the crowd, which responded, “God is good all the time.”

He followed that moment with Fred Hammond’s “We’re Blessed,” with the audience singing along before transitioning into his own “Blessings (Reprise).”

That moment was one of the reasons I became a Chance fan in the first place. His faith isn't something he hides or separates from his music. It is part of who he is, and he continues to make that clear from the stage.

He eventually reached back into his 2013 Acid Rap catalog with “Everybody’s Somebody,” giving longtime fans another reminder of how deep his catalog goes.

And apparently, they wanted even more.

As the show came to a close, fans chanted for “one more song,” making it clear they weren't ready for the night to end. With the show being an all-ages event and starting slightly delayed, Chance was ultimately cut short before completing his final songs.

Still, the reaction said plenty. From a 10-year-old fan watching from his father’s shoulders to longtime fans joyfully singing along, Chance The Rapper brought together multiple generations of listeners for a celebration of Coloring Book and the music that came before and after it.

Ten years later, Coloring Book still feels exactly like its name suggests: colorful, uplifting and full of different pieces that somehow come together to make something bigger.

And after watching Chance perform the project live, I’m reminded why I fell in love with the mixtape in the first place.

Photo Credit: Precious Drew