Chance the Rapper likes to kick off his projects with a simple “And we back.” Despite some career struggles over the past few years, he was certainly back in Hollywood Monday night for the aptly named And We Back Tour.
And Chance wasn’t just back in L.A. in a literal sense; he was back to his old self, with the Chicago-bred rapper turning the clock back almost a decade to connect his Grammy-winning “Coloring Book” with this year’s heralded “Star Line.”
This newest album, which critics called an “extraordinary comeback from a generational force,” helped Chance move past his poorly reviewed 2019 album “The Big Day,” a project that focused on his now-ended marriage.
During the show, Chance addressed the failures of the past several years just as he did in “Star Line,” with a quick rhyme near the beginning, then moving onto the positivity and gratitude for which he’s known.
“I had a F-minus, but that’s behind us,” he raps in “Star Side Intro.”
For nearly two hours, Chance ripped through hits from “Coloring Book” and tracks from “Star Line,” with a few loose tracks, “Acid Rap” songs and a rendition of his verse on Ye’s “Ultralight Beam” mixed in for the fans who’ve been with him since his days as a high-school music phenom.
The rapper also made a point to highlight Black history and culture, with shoutouts to Black liberation activist Assata Shakur and “living legend” civil rights activist Angela Davis, and he drew connections between Los Angeles and his native Chicago.
With immigration raids ongoing in the Windy City as well as L.A., Chance led the crowd in chants of “F— ICE,” or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and flashed scenes of protesters and news headlines on the screen behind him.
When not making political statements, that screen displayed Chance’s lyrics, servicing hearing-impaired fans and those who didn’t want to miss any of his clever wordplay.
The only times the words weren’t displayed was during hits like “Same Drugs,” when the audience had no trouble singing along.
During that performance, Chance also reminded the audience of the “Peter Pan”-themed song’s advice: “Don’t forget the happy thoughts.”
After that high-energy set, Chance’s fans probably didn’t need the reminder.
Will Conybeare contributed to this report.