The Big Day
| Chance The Rapper
The Big Day
The Big Day is the debut studio album by American rapper Chance the Rapper, released on July 26, 2019. The album follows several mixtapes by the rapper including the reissue of his collaborative Merry Christmas Lil' Mama in 2017, and is his first solo project since Coloring Book in 2016. The album was influenced by Chance's marriage, which occurred in March 2019. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, but received backlash from fans on social media. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, Chance's highest-charting entry to date. - Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Chance’s sprawling, 77-minute “debut” is an exuberant and often wonderful celebration of love and family that struggles to bring depth to his newlywed dad-raps.
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Rolling Stone
The long-awaited follow-up to the Chicago’s rappers’ landmark ‘Coloring Book’ is like flipping through someone’s wedding photos.
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Consequence of Sound
The Chicago native can't quite connect with songs about fatherhood, God, and marriage.
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Atwood Magazine
Chance The Rapper’s long-awaited ‘The Big Day’ is a well-crafted debut LP, albeit one with more than zero problems, big fella!
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The Guardian
A candid, cutesy concept album based around his wedding.
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Stereogum
Chance The Rapper’s supposed debut album is merely a big shrug, a general sigh of disappointment. It’s a tedious album of little consequence, a clear sign of a gradual slide.
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Vulture
Not everything on the album needed to be on the album. Big Day is the sound of settling.
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HipHopDX
I’ve enjoyed all of his previous projects, but I never want to hear this one again.
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Variety
The result is a somewhat flat record that contains shades of Chance’s supreme talents, but lacks the dynamism of his previous works.
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Very Smart Brothers
While I think the album is absolutely too long and overly self-indulgent, it’s pretty much an on-brand album for Chance
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Paste Magazine
The Big Day is one neverending dad joke. This album does, however, have its big, shining moments.
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AV Club
By any measure, The Big Day is a watershed moment—not just because Chance has so adeptly turned an industry on its head, but because it’s the zenith of an entire career spent demonstrating that when Chance raps, he raps from the heart.
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The Ringer
The Chicago MC’s “debut” LP tackles marriage and his blessed family life, but lacks the focus of his early work.
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DJBooth
‘The Big Day’ feels like a major label debut album. Maybe the first debut in rap history where the artist was already renowned.
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NME
Stuffed with superfluous features, the Chicago rapper's 22-track debut studio album sags somewhat, but is almost saved by his infectiously optimistic outlook.
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Slate
With The Big Day, the wunderkind tries to outdo Coloring Book and ends up spreading himself thin.
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High Snobiety
Chance the Rapper struggles to shine through on the unwieldy ‘The Big Day’.
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The Fader
The Big Day is Chance’s weakest release yet.
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Daily Nexus
An enjoyable and funny listen not to be taken too seriously.
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Chicago Tribune
Chance’s grown-up ideas are delivered with a child-like zeal.
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Entertainment Weekly
A master lyricist, a musical omnivore, Chance and his family of producers and instrumentalists channel all the big emotions of the big day in a swirl of bliss, marital and otherwise.
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Independent
The Big Day is like a lot of weddings: too long and occasionally a little dull – with one or two unforgettable moments.
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Now Toronto
On his first for-sale album, the Chicago rapper presents a bigger and slicker version of his nostalgic gospel-rap sound but buries it in excess.
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Hot New Hip Hop
Is Chance The Rapper your kind of Padrino? If so, you’ll find The Big Day immeasurably fun.
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WSJ
The Chicago rapper ruminates on his recent union with a new record that runs well over an hour, digging into weighty themes with an array of big-name guests.
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Irish Examiner
Its secret weapon is Chance’s charismatic rhyming. He’s had his woes yet his no-drama delivery insists that, even on the cloudiest days, there’s always a chance of sunshine.
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Earbuddy
I think this album would have landed better with audiences if Chance took the time to chop out some songs and rearrange the track listing.
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Uproxx
The Big Day actually makes perfect sense as a debut album in that light. Seven years into his illustrious, groundbreaking mainstream run, Chance The Rapper has finally arrived.
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The Nation
On The Big Day, Chance gets swallowed up by the pomp, circumstance, and symbolism of his long-awaited debut album. A finish line without a race is just a ribbon.
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The Lifestyle
To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement.
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Spectrum Culture
Not quite a classic, it’s nonetheless a welcome statement from one of the decade’s most important hip-hop artists.
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Pop Dust
The Big Day succeeds when Chance loosens up and just has fun.
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The Young Folks
Thankfully, Chance is finally living that dream. And for the most part, it’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.
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The Line of Best Fit
The Big Day by Chance The Rapper is a portrait of the artist as a young man.
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Complex
Although The Big Day is all over the place stylistically, the upbeat production is the main thing that ties things together.
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Riff Magazine
This LP could not be a better illustration of where he’s at now—a very good place.
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Sputnik Music
You can fall much faster than you think you can.
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Exclaim!
So yes, 22 tracks is a lot. But unlike other lengthy recent rap albums, The Big Day has enough ideas, sounds and flows to justify its vast breath.
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Northern Transmissions
It’s not that Chance’s melodic takes feel old or outdated, his style is definitely very modern, but as stated previously, there is a real Hieroglyphics meets Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince vibe to it.
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Live 4ever
Like all clued up wedding DJ’s, he’s got something for everyone.
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Ratings Game Music
The end-result of this concoction is a body of work that music listeners of all shades, attraction-levels and ages can enjoy (Maybe a little too much).
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New 1027
This is an album that experiments with lots of new sounds and is very encouraging for what is to come from the newly-wed Chano. The most uplifting sign of this album is that Chance is willing to try lots of new things and see how they fit.
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NZ Herald
A musical and spiritual journey - but one that might leave you jet lagged.
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Erie Reader
The Big Day isn't a bad album, but it also never seems to approach the lyrical peaks of Chance's game-changing mix tapes.
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The Musical Hype
Is The Big Day the perfect debut album? No, but give Chance lots of credit for trying so many different things and not merely settling on delivering the traditional rap album.
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Exeposé
Bryony Gooch listened to Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day so you don’t have to.
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Clash Magazine
A lengthy album, but frequently unsatisfying...
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Sound Sports
With "The Big Day", Chance the Rapper paints a picture that little to no one can form a connection with and delivers by far his lowest quality of music to date.
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Picky Bastards
There is some fantastic music here, that cements Chance’s place as one of my favorite current hip hop artists, but compared to the expertly focused and memorable Coloring Book, The Big Day just falls short for me.
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UWire
Aside from the faulty execution of a few of “The Big Day” tracks, Chance’s decision to delve into the music styles outside of his genre on his debut album signals that this is the version of the Chicagoan rapper that the music industry will be seeing more of.
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The Fresh Committee
Without a doubt The Big Day has absolutely nothing to say.
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black boy bulletin
All in all, The Big Day is fine.
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Black Indy Live
The way it collectively sounded was just not my cup of tea.
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Riffs and Rhymes
The Big Day shows flashes of the unconventional and supremely talented version of Chance that dazzled hip-hop fans for most of the decade, but ultimately, the album’s execution feels lethargic and uninspired.
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The Student Playlist
Chance The Rapper’s first official album ‘The Big Day’ showcases Chancelor Bennett’s obvious talents, and addresses maturity and responsibility, but buckles under the weight of its ambition.
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The New Chicagoan
The Big Day is a little disappointing.
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Beat Route
Chance said he wanted to save that arbitrary “album” label for his best work. And while The Big Day might not be that, it’s certainly his most defining.
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SNES Blog
“The definition of average”
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The Vinyl Analysis
The Big Day, Chance The Rapper’s passionate first dive into studio albumdom, feels as much zealous Sunday service as it does a grinning reveal of a tireless whiz kid’s first science project.
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Hotpress
Ambitious debut from rap superstar.
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Balcony Life Blog
I definitely think Chance is cooking with something, it’s just that it wasn’t exactly shown to us correctly on this first project.
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GIGsoup
The sprawling 77 minutes is the canvas he spills this all on, for better or for worse. It’s inconsistent and far from the perfection Chance probably has in him, and which the world somewhat unfairly expected from a first album.
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Thirstkey
"The Big Day" drags on and a lot of things happen that just shouldn't have. It's actually more comparable to the less favorable days in life than the big occasions. But Chance still uses his best assets to craft a handful of great songs.
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All Music
Occasional nearsighted lyrical perspectives and three or four excellent but inessential tracks keep The Big Day from quite reaching masterpiece status, but it's still the most grown up rendering of Chance's eternally bright spirit in his catalog.
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Soul in Stereo
Chance’s big day was supposed to be a joy to experience, not a chore to sit through.
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