Chicago artist Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book” is the third full length installment in his discography. His growing popularity in the rap game made this album greatly anticipated earlier this year. This latest record has a heavy gospel and soul feel that not many rappers have tried to replicate. However, for as ambitious as this album was, it still had many flaws and things that Chance could have improved.

In the opening tracks, “All We Got” and “No Problem”, the choir vocals bled into all the other instruments, producing an unclear and unnecessarily busy sound. The lack of consistency from song to song is unsatisfactory and while some tracks have a very recognizable feel, others seem like they’ve lost his unique sound.

On the other hand, songs like “Blessings” and “Angels” have very crisp instrumentals and the mixing feels tighter than on the other tracks. Many of the artists featured on this album add something that Chance wouldn’t otherwise have, but other times it felt as if the features were completely unnecessary.

Overall, this project has given Chance a new sound and the spiritual themes with all the booming horns is something that has a certain charm to it. This record has ups and downs and could have been better based on his previous albums.  Chance is still, however, a young rapper, and he will have more opportunities to grow as an artist in the future.