The S.H.I.T.T.S Podcast
The S.H.I.T.T.S Podcast
Chance The Rapper’s Joy, Grief, And Growth Through A Classic Mixtape
A single mixtape can hold a whole city. We sit down with Lia to unpack why Acid Rap still feels like Chicago’s heartbeat—joyful, messy, vulnerable, and alive. From the juke-charged Intro to the windows-down freedom of Juice and the tender confession of Cocoa Butter Kisses, we trace how Chance captured a moment that outgrew the moment. It’s not just nostalgia; it’s a map of youth, where the block protects the artist, the hook carries the crowd, and the laughter in the ad-libs feels like friends in the room.
We go deep on the context too. Early drill was rising, and Chance offered a parallel lens—same city, different angle—naming what it’s like to be close to danger without performing it. Paranoia becomes the hinge, the summer song that says the quiet part out loud: loving warm weather while bracing for phone calls nobody wants. Lia shares a personal story of loss that changed how the record sounded over time, and we talk about how music can make space for grief without losing its joy. That tension—party and prayer, bounce and burden—is what gives the project its staying power.
We also wrestle with evolution. Did sobriety temper the risk-taking that made Acid Rap electric, or did it open a new kind of honesty? Art-as-diary means the page reflects the day, and we explore how fans can honor an artist’s growth without demanding a loop of the past. Along the way, we compare authentic Chicago texture with media that misses the mark, and we make a case for soul in the age of AI: you can model a cadence, but you can’t automate stakes. If you’ve ever danced in the living room or felt a drumline pull strangers into family, you’ll hear why this mixtape still matters.
Press play, then tell us the line or track that never left you. If the conversation moves you, follow the show, share with a friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find us.
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Yo, what the deal is. Welcome back to the Shits Podcast. We're either shooting the shit, starting some shit, or picking up what shit left off. I'm your host, DJ Monson, the rock, the dopest DJ, and the dopest host you've heard thus far. Hey, yo, so check it out. So this week, well, today on the podcast, we're doing a little something different. We're talking music. And um, I get the opportunity to talk about music with interested people. So uh my next guest, my guest for the week, coming on to the show is uh very cool person, very knowledgeable person, and very knowledgeable about music. So um she's gonna come on the show and talk about one of her favorite albums, and uh we're gonna we're gonna dig deep into it. So, with no further ado, I want y'all to give it up for the one, the only Leah. What up, though? You just you just your screen just went out. What happened? Uh-oh. The technical difficulties. Hold on. I don't even know if I said that word correctly. Can you hear me? All right. She had to step off for a minute, but she'll be back. Until then, I want to say this much. Um hold on for a second. Hold on for one second. Yeah, it's all black. And it's like you're looking like Wesley Snipes. It's like super black. So I think something going on with your screen. You gotta get that together. While my guests get her screen together, uh, I am going to put out a public service announcement. Um, I know y'all have been hearing a lot about what's going on with ICE and um how people are being treated, people are being shot, people are being killed. Um, and it's it's fucked up, y'all. It's fucked up. And and and I just really want everybody to understand that motherfuckers only gonna take so much. Like real shit. Like as great, as great of a country as we say the United States is, I think motherfuckers still gotta understand that we only gonna take so much before some shit really happen. Like real talk. And so it's like, man, like people gotta take that into consideration, man. Like for real. Like, it's I mean, I think motherfuckers saying that shit when they came to Chicago. Hey, bro, ain't nobody for that bullshit, man. Like, real talk, and it also makes me, it also makes me feel like people need to understand the concept of unity. Umgether as one and and not just feeling like it it just affects somebody else. That shit affected all of us. It's affected all of us. So man, like pray. You know what I'm saying? Pray, stay strong, uh, think about your fellow man, whether he's black, brown, white, yellow, whatever. You know what I'm saying? Think about your fellow man because it's it's it's it's it's fucked up, man. But it can get better. But it can definitely get better. Like, I feel like people definitely need to understand that that it definitely can get better. And you know, like it's it's interesting that uh that I'm even bringing it up right now because I think that uh the power of music uh can help. Like music helps, it helps get people through through rough times. It's like the 60s and and and the set, well, really the 60s, some of the best fucking music came out. It was rough fucking times, man, that people were speaking from the heart, you know. So hold on. You good?
SPEAKER_04:Am I still giving Wesley snipes? No, no, no, no, no, because I can't let that slide.
SPEAKER_10:I mean, like, because it was it was it was black as fuck. That's uh that that's why I say that.
SPEAKER_04:You could have said Bernie Mac go.
SPEAKER_10:We we could say Bernie Mac, but rest rest in peace, Bernie Mac. All right, I'm trying to think like damn damn Bernie. I'm gonna go with Wesley Snipes. Uh, I can't think of nobody else right now that's black and west of snipes.
SPEAKER_05:What's Michael Blacksey?
SPEAKER_10:Michael Black home, black brain, my Michael Blacksey, Michael Blacks, Michael Blacks. All right, so thank you for for for sharing your time with me tonight, you know. So the first question that I want to ask is where you from?
SPEAKER_05:Shotown. I'm from the pole where it's cold. Uh that's why I do it the best.
SPEAKER_10:Oh, god damn it. Here we go. Here we go. The pole for the all right. So for those who don't know, the pole is up north. That's that's that's what we're gonna say. Because everybody knows four sides of Chicago's up north, out south, out west, and over east. Don't do that, don't do that, do that, and you from up north, let's just say up north, goddamn it. All right, so let me ask you this question how do you think your environment has uh made you into the into the how do you think your environment has made you into the adult that you are today?
SPEAKER_04:Um I think it shaped me. I think for the core part of my life, I grew up up north, but we ping-ponged around so many subcategories of the north side.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um my adolescent, we were a little more uh uh colored, if you will. And then towards high school, I got the chance to go suburban due to my grades being so well. And that was a culture shock, but it has helped to shape me to be such a well-rounded person. And I think a lot of people that look like us might not get that opportunity. So as a kid, I was not as grateful as an adult. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_10:Hmm. So it's interesting that you say how uh the poll, you know, the poll, has has shaped you. And then you talked about the diversity, um, being able to go to different schools that probably wasn't so urban, if I'm saying that correctly. So what's interesting to me about this statement is the album that you chose was Chance to Rap is Acid Rap.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_10:Okay. What is it? What is it about that album that resonated with you?
SPEAKER_04:There is not many albums I can play start to finish, know every word, and have a good time singing along. That album came out 2013, I believe. Like spring.
SPEAKER_10:Um might maybe it's either between 2013 and 2016, I think.
SPEAKER_04:I think somewhere in there. We're we're no sick, no, whatever it came out. It's springtime. I can't forget it. It's gotta be 13 because it came out my junior year of high school.
SPEAKER_09:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And I know this for a fact because it dropped my best friend at the time. We were right around doing no good after school because he, like me, got to go to a more predominantly white school, and we were just two real black kids coming from CPS, having to force to be in these neighborhoods, and it was like, okay, you relate to me, I relate to you. That project dropped right around, no good, bumping it. And he ended up passing away a few months later.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I'm sorry, right.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but he was so full of life, and that that album was like our anthem, track for track. Yeah, but it's a perfect project in my eyes.
SPEAKER_10:So it made me think, do you think that chance on that album? Do you think chance was sounding like the typical Chicago artist at that time? Because I think around that time it was like, what? I mean, of course, Kanye. Um, I don't know, I don't know if the drill if the if the drill music drill movement had really started around that time. Was it the drill movement really going on?
SPEAKER_04:It was like starting to kick off, but he he was saying a lot of the same things that these drill artists might have been saying it, but from his perspective, it was like one scenario is going on, you're getting two different perspectives, and his perspective was a little different than what you were getting from them drill rappers, right? Right, right, right. So it was liberating to hear.
SPEAKER_10:I you know what, I'm glad you put it that way because I didn't really think about it like that. Like, like you said, yeah, he they they it it was really like talking about the same stuff, but from a different point of view. Like, I don't know, like kind of talking about it in a sense, like not should I say like from the victim? You get what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_04:I can see why you say victim. I don't say victim. I take it like you know, when you in the hood, there's the ones that's on the corner doing what they do. And then it's always those people where you just don't fuck with them, you don't touch them. They you don't mess with them. Them the ones that's gonna get us out the hood. You don't mess with them. And he gives, yeah, that's a little homie. You don't mess with him. He's doing right. You see him, just let him go.
SPEAKER_09:Right, right, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_04:He's able to give perspective of, yeah, he's kicking it with these same people, but he might not be doing the one that's doing the drilling and run down on people.
SPEAKER_10:Right, right, right, right. No, that's that's a good way to put it. That's that's a damn good way to put it. Um, can you remember the the person that you were around that time?
SPEAKER_04:A badass kid. That's the easiest way to put it. Like, you know, coming into young adulthood, I don't want to say you intentionally want to defy your parents, but you're coming into your own self as a person, trying to figure out who you are, who you want to be. And some people they can stay on that straight and narrow. Me being somebody who was having to conform in that suburban area, I don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_04:Um, so Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 3:30, I'm gonna be that scholar my mama need me to be.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:3:30 hit. Oh, that's my time. I'm outside, I'm going to have a good time with my friends. I'm doing stuff that I pray she never find out about.
SPEAKER_09:Right, right.
SPEAKER_04:Um we was riding around parts of the city that nobody should have to be in.
SPEAKER_05:But you know, you a kid just living life.
SPEAKER_10:That's what you do. So, you know what's it makes sense. Like, to me, like hearing you say that, it makes sense why that album would would resonate with you. Like, for me, I remember listening to it, and I'm I mean, I'm older than you are. Um uh, you ain't got we're not gonna start today. Right. I'm gonna let you leave. Um, but like it I don't want to say that and that's what I appreciated about the album was his delivery. You know what I'm saying? Like, it sounded very, it didn't sound forced. It didn't sound forced. Uh, it wasn't whack at all. Um, but I also like that you could tell that the motherfucker has some sense. You know what I'm saying? Like just the words that he used, how he manipulated the words, like I was like, damn, that's that's that's dope as hell. And I like the fact that he put personality into it. You see what I'm saying? Um, yeah, I like I like that a lot. Like that shit really stood out to me. I was like, damn, like around that time, like I'm a big comment fan, right? Okay, um, and he kind of gave me some a little bit common vibes, like early, early common.
SPEAKER_04:Because like that real rough Chicago sound.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, kind of like with the high pitched, like that, you know, that type of shit. I am, but anyway, um, but that early common, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, it was a lot of uh a lot of noises uh being put into the flow and shit like that. So that's why I like, and I like the production for the most part. Now I'm not gonna lie to you and say I can listen to it straight through because there are some songs that I'd be like, um, but I think that I I I don't listen to those songs because I wasn't a huge fan of me. The the production was kind of like it wasn't whack, it was just like you know, compared to the other shit, you know what I'm saying? So um give me your top.
SPEAKER_04:I know you say you listen to the whole thing, but give me your top top five no order because I can't put him in an order. Okay, juices up there, juice is up there for me. I think that's just a why well it's just a good vibe of a kind of song, like it just felt like his delivery on it was so effortless. He was just having a good time when he was in the studio recording it, and you feel that he's having a good time, like even in the video, it's not a lot of extra, it's just his in the city just having a good time, yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of people lose that in like in videos nowadays, it's so overstimulating, where it's like you gotta have 52 different things going on. If you got a good project on your hands, you don't need much, right? Your delivery is is your biggest key. I think that's why juice is a big one. Um, I hate that he couldn't get it put on the actual album, but you know, you I'm gonna still play it on repeat.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I think Cocoa Butter Kisses is just on there because that's that song is just another free-flower song. It's a song that I probably annoyed my mom with so bad that she will play it on repeat. Like if she knows I'm in a bad mood and I'm around her, she knows she can play that and then we're gonna sing it word for word.
SPEAKER_10:So let me ask you this what do you think the song was about?
SPEAKER_04:Um, I do think at the time when he was recording, he was going through a lot of uh substance use issues for himself. Um and as someone who grew up with uh people who did all the substances in life, I think it's his way of saying, like, you know, my mama's gonna love me regardless, but the stuff that I do might not align with what she wants.
SPEAKER_10:Right, right, right, right, right. See that? I love that. I love that you put it that way. Because like um, paraphrasing, I think I think we all addicted. You know what I'm saying? When he was addicted, you know what I'm saying? Like, not necessarily to a specific drug, but we're all addicted to something. You get what I'm saying? Something that makes us, something that makes us, I don't necessarily want to say escape, but something that helps us get by. You get what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely, especially with like the way I think the song applies now more than anything in today's society because so many people are having to go through these different things, like you were talking about before with ice. That's a heavy topic to deal with on its own, yeah, and it can become very overwhelming as a person, and sometimes you need to uh remove yourself to unwind and ground yourself. Um, yeah, and people find different ways, like you said. I think I think we all addicted. We all addicted to something. Some people it's drugs, some people it's social media, it just honestly depends on the person.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah. And and and and really, that was one of the first songs, one of the first songs that I listened to, and I was like blown away by Vic Mansa's verse. Like he fucking snapped on that verse. He fucking snapped like it was just like the way he put that shit together. Like it just it was kind of like the motherfucker was playing a drum. That's how it sounded like, you know, like he was using his his his words as an instrument. That's why I thought it was so dope. And I like the fact that Twister was on there and uh he just killed it. I mean, like, so that was like, and then the chorus was just fucking awesome. The chorus was awesome. You can't, like you just couldn't, you know what I'm saying? Like it was just a dope fucking song. So that's two. You said two. That's um juice, uh, cocoa butter kisses. What else? Give me three more.
SPEAKER_04:Push a man is another fun song for me. Um, because I I like the original push the man. So when he dropped out, I was like, oh yeah, this is gonna be me and my dad damn. Okay, um, and you can't be the line. He says pimp slapping, toe tag and he just trying to fight the man. He yo push a me. He's your he's your push me.
SPEAKER_09:Right, right.
SPEAKER_04:Who how fun tracking just say things like that?
SPEAKER_09:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:It's uh I think the that that song is another one where it's like you can play it and I don't want to say tune out, but like you don't have to listen to the lyrics. It's one of those good quick catchy songs.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, I think you can't tune out. I think you can't tune out because of the product, because of the production. Um really well, mainly because of the production and the chorus, it just kind of kind of takes you there. You see what I'm saying? So you really don't, I guess it's not a um it's not a hard listen. Like, I don't have to listen too hard. Let's just be honest. Sometimes we really don't want to listen too fucking hard to shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, no, you just want to enjoy the track, right? Right now, you know, right. I don't want to think about too much right now. You know what I'm saying? I definitely get where you come from with that. Alright, so that's that's three.
SPEAKER_09:That's three.
SPEAKER_04:The intro. You can't beat the intro. I love DJ the Chicago kid.
SPEAKER_10:You cannot beat that intro. You can't beat the intro. I think that intro. When I first heard it, I was like, this motherfucker put juke. He put juke music. On the track. On the track. I was like, oh, because like you literally, like when you heard the shit, you felt like I'm gonna start footworking. You know what I'm saying? Like immediately. Yeah, but it didn't sound like to me, it didn't sound like um I'm not gonna even compare, I'm not gonna even compare artists because I don't want to, I'm not gonna do that. But there are some artists that have tried that shit before, and it was like nigga. They don't get the same, like using using house matics and you just trying to rap. But for him, when he put that on the track, I found like an MC that experimented with putting juke music in your in your music, you know what I'm saying? And it fucking worked, so yeah, I I feel you on that one. And then the singing worked too.
SPEAKER_04:It's a balance on that track. It is because when it when you come in, you don't know what to anticipate. No, and it just ends and it flows, and you're like, it being from Chicago, it's like, yeah, I know exactly what you're doing here, I feel it. Versus like I got people who are down in Georgia when we would go visit and go play this. Who is this man? What is this? What's going on?
SPEAKER_10:Right, right.
SPEAKER_04:And so then the ones who like been back and forth to Chicago, like, okay, I see, I see what he's doing there. Um, and it again, it works. I think when it comes to Chance the Rapper's first project, I think he he went in there to have fun. Whether he worked, he he went to go have a good time, and you can feel that he had a good time in every track.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Versus like uh some of his later work, you can tell he took his time to curate it. Um, I think that's what makes acid rap so different than like later cancer, the rapper albums.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, because being a young teenager, young adult, you ain't got nothing else to do but smoke some weed, drink, go party. Right. I just want to go to the city studio and party.
SPEAKER_10:Right.
SPEAKER_04:You can feel that through the project.
SPEAKER_10:I and I agree with you on that. That that's that's one definite that I would say about the album. Like listening to it is like it does sound like this motherfucker had a lot of fun recording this album. You know what I'm saying? Like a lot of weed was smoked. I don't, you know, maybe some pills, whatever. But anyway, um, but a lot of shit happened, you know what I'm saying? And a lot of fun was had recording this album. And I to me, I feel like that is one of the elements of a classic album when you can kind of relay that energy that you had making it to the audience. You get what I'm saying? Like, you can play some shit, and somebody like, damn, bro, it sounds like you was having a whole lot of fun with the shit, or damn, bro, it sounded like you was going to shit on this on this song, like when the album is really good or a song was really good, and I think he definitely hit the mark with that. Um, you made the comment earlier, you said that it sounds like a different chance, correct?
SPEAKER_05:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_10:So uh I had a certain well, a certain someone, uh a certain someone came home and um and and she didn't believe that that was the same person. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_04:You're not if you didn't know early chance, you you you're not gonna hear the same person, right?
SPEAKER_10:Right. You know, it's because she was listening to Star Line. Um right, we're not gonna talk about that. We won't go there. We're giving props right now. Uh we're giving flowers right now. Um and yeah, she was just like, this is the same person. I'm like, yeah, that's the same person. That's crazy. Sobriety. Sobriety. Oh, okay, okay. So I'm glad you said that. I'm glad you said that. You said sobriety. Did it damn, I can I phrase it? Did it work artistically? From a consumer's point of view, did sobriety work artistically?
SPEAKER_04:In my opinion.
SPEAKER_10:In your opinion.
SPEAKER_04:In my opinion. No. I think prior to him practicing full sobriety, um he seemed a little more risk-taking on his project. Um, like I said, there's so many sounds and no track is alike on acid rap, opposed to like something like Starline or Color and Pages. Color and Book. Yeah, yeah, color and book. Color and book, it was an okay album. You could you could hear him through it, but like you said, those like those random ad libs of him out there screaming on the track. You you're not gonna get that with the polished version of him that you have now, which for some people that may not be a bad thing. For somebody who's a OG chance rapper listener, it's kind of like that's not what I'm looking for out of a project from him.
SPEAKER_09:Right.
SPEAKER_04:So it it it's a it's a a bittersleet kind of pill.
SPEAKER_10:Right, right, right, right. You know, like you don't want to say niggas stay drunk, stay high, you know.
SPEAKER_04:But yeah, I mean, you gotta stay drunk, nigga, get a little high from time. You know, leave the kids at home, right? Make sure why be straight, go to the studio with your brother and get high. Go, go have some fun. You know, it's it's always fuck them kids, but we go love them kids. And I feel like he just needs to say that every now and again. We would uh do what we're looking for. But I would be lying if they would say if I said I didn't like some uh starline tracks, not all, so it's not a project I can listen to.
SPEAKER_10:But it's definitely different. It's it's it's definitely different.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely two different people, right?
SPEAKER_10:And but you know what though? To his credit, to his credit, um that's an artist. That's that that's the person saying, Hey, this is me. You know what I'm saying? I'm I'm sober now. It's like this is this is who I am when I'm sober. You caught me when I was high as fuck, you know what I'm saying? It's either way it goes, it's me, you know, but this is my this is my ever. So you said you gave four. You said good end, cocoa butter, kisses, and juice. One one more.
SPEAKER_04:There are two right answers, but I'm gonna give you the obvious one. Okay, you can't fuck up with favorite songs. Oh no, him and Tildish Gambino got on that track and played in all the right ways.
SPEAKER_10:Yes, and that had a bit of juke in there as well. And so we we we kind of we kind of talked about this. I like Childish Gambino. Um, and it's it's funny because we have a conversation about chess, but also with uh uh evolution as well as an artist. You know what I'm saying? I don't know if he's necessarily sober, but he he doesn't sound the same way that he did when he first played. Oh, no, no, no. And a lot of motherfuckers say, well, nigga, he's not supposed to. You know what I'm saying? Like, you don't sound the same way you did when you was 10, goddammit. You know what I'm saying? So you grow and you it shows your growth. Right, it shows your growth. Now the thing is, will your hardcore fans appreciate that growth? You get what I'm saying? So, and I and it's it's it's it's like I said, it's interesting we have in this conversation because you can kind of make the same argument about Chance to Rapper and Childish Gambino. You get what I'm saying? Like, uh career-wise, they've evolved tremendously. Like, sometimes you don't even hear the motherfuckers rap on a song, like they harmonizing. They ain't win Andre 3000 yet. They ain't did that, thank God. They ain't playing, they ain't playing the flu. They ain't playing the flu, but you can tell they evolved. But anyway, um, like I said, one of the coldest lines on that motherfucker, and it's crazy because it wasn't a profound fucking line, it was just like, why you laughing? Because you haul them shake, man. Like it was so fucking simple, but it was funny as fuck, you know what I'm saying? It was funny as fuck. So that's one of the standout lines for me on on that uh on that song. And then the beat was cold too.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I definitely think for Chalice Gambino, his whole verse in that it spoke to where I was like at in that time in my life. Working at a mall, like he said, that's the song you put on when your work is finished. Like we were close up forever 21.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_04:All right, we're connecting our phone to the ice as we finish up photo for the night. Everybody out the store. We trying to hurry up in this last hour so we can get home, go smoke, go do whatever before our our parents know we're supposed to really be off work already.
SPEAKER_10:Right, right.
SPEAKER_04:And it was just like a good fun song. It's like yeah, it gives black people version of dancing around in the living room.
SPEAKER_10:Ooh. It it gives that footworking, footworking in the living room. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, I give that. Now, now let's be clear. All Chicago is take footwork, so some people just be there to open the circle.
SPEAKER_10:I I can't, and you know, I've always said I want to.
SPEAKER_05:Let me know when you're ready. I got a homie that teach. We could we could make some arrangements.
SPEAKER_10:I've always said I want to learn, but see, the crazy thing about it is we we used to clown motherfuckers for that. Oh, here you go. We we we used to, we used to, but then we came to our senses and we was like, nigga, this is this is Chicago shit. And hey, motherfucker, that's a skill. Every everybody can't fucking footwork. You get what I'm saying? Everybody can't footwork, and it's the craziest shit because it's like you like I feel like people should have a camera on somebody's face before they start footworking, and then when they start footworking, because it fucking changes. The face to no one footworks with the same fucking face, bro. Like, you can't, it's like fucking impossible, you know what I'm saying? Like, if you ever seen somebody like get ready to start footworking, it's like it's a it's a metamorphosis on a fucking face. Like, I gotta go to hyper, I don't know. They get in their song, right? They get in the lock in. Yes, man, man, but that's Chicago. I love it, I love it. Um, so it was some songs on that that didn't hit it like at first they didn't hit as hard to me. But the same person that said she didn't know, she didn't realize that that was chance, she brought up to me. She actually she she pointed it out. The song Paranoia. Yeah, yeah. Very very important song on the album because how it speaks to um the feeling that that pop that that population of uh those populations of kids had before the summer before the summer came. You get what I'm saying? Like I know one of my people gonna get fucking shot. You know what I'm saying? Like, as much as I look forward to nice weather, we scared of it. You know what I'm saying? Like, we and we can't even act like we not scared, motherfucker. Like, some shit gonna happen, you know. So that was a that was definitely a a a standout track for me. I mean, like, what's your thoughts on it?
SPEAKER_04:I think because depending on who you ask, they'll put these two tracks on one. But if you ask me, there are two separate entities: Lost with chance and no name, and paranoia. When you play them on the album, they play concurrent to each other.
SPEAKER_09:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Um, and it gives, like you said, that summertime. Like I said, this project meant so much to me because I had that homie where when it dropped, we were together, it was always the same thing. And it was like that one night we weren't together over the beginning of the summer, he lost his life. And then that was a track that I couldn't listen to at first. It was one of the ones that I was skipped because it was like at the time, subconsciously, I didn't know why I was skipping it, I'm skipping it. And then maybe a couple years went by and I played the album straight through. And lost in paranoia, I kept playing back to back to back. And I'm like, what is it that this has me feeling? And like you said, it's that feeling of knowing summertime's coming in Chicago and it summertime shines something like no other people's birthday next to come here to experience that with us. But then you also have that feeling of my numbers gonna dwindle. There's a chance that somebody I love and care about is not about to have their life in the next few weeks because of whatever the circumstance may be. And especially as a young teen in inner Chicago, like inner city Chicago, that's a that's a burden to carry. And I don't think a lot of people talk about it as much as they should. Because trying to teach, especially like young men, it's okay to mourn the loss of your homies and not just be angry about it. There are other feelings that come with grief and the paranoia of getting ready to lose somebody. Um and transmade that space feel safe and okay to talk about. Um, and I I hope the this new generation that's up and coming can have those conversations to know, like, okay, the paranoia of that is real, but take a breath. We're gonna get through this and and go forward. Yeah, um, like you said, like chance rapper, we can evolve. Now I don't know if we're gonna get star line evolving.
SPEAKER_10:You know what? Maybe another, maybe another seven more years. Maybe, maybe another seven more, maybe when we have, maybe when we have evolved. You see what I'm saying? Okay, because I I do believe in this. So Rick Rubin, the dude that produced the Beastie Boys, and probably groups you never even heard of because you because your age, because you know, yeah, it's old. Um he said that your art is like your diary. You know what I'm saying? So you will write, you write in your diary how you feel. So you don't write in your diary and say, man, man, how people gonna like what people what people want me to feel? You know what I'm saying? Like, how do people how do people expect me to feel? No, you write in your diary how you feel. And it's like it's uh it's up to, I mean, it's it's a sudden, it's a certain vulnerability. If people fuck with it, they fuck with it. That's just the plus, that's that's the plus side of it. But um, I think I only say that to say that I think like with Chance, he I think he's staying true to himself as an artist. You know what I'm saying? Like you said, I'm sober now. You know what I'm saying? Like, so maybe things have slowed down a bit in my head. Maybe I see things a little bit different than I seen it before. And maybe it's not as fun as before, you know what I'm saying? But there's an argument to be made about that too, because it could be like maybe being this adult that people expect me to be is not as fun either, motherfucker. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_05:Like, compared to when I was being the youngster, you can do on the I can live a life wild, right?
SPEAKER_10:You see what I'm saying? So I just think that either way it goes, it's art and it's and and it should be it should be appreciated, you know. Um I mean, but there was also songs in there like uh what's that um uh the interlude, that's love. That shit was fucking dope to me. That shit was dope. I was just like like listening to it, it puts you in a certain it puts you in a certain mood, you know what I'm saying? Like you like you just felt like to me, I felt happy about shit. Like, you know, you you felt good. It's a warm fucking feeling.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, better than the last time you was. Everything feels so good, right?
SPEAKER_10:Right, right. And it and the thing about it is I think that that what I appreciate the most about that album was that it was a hip-hop album, and you know, like I said, around that time it was like shit was supposed to sound this way, like nigga, we tough out here. We tough and nigga, he tough, right? You know what I'm saying? Right, you know what I'm saying, and not only that, it's like here this motherfucker come, he probably don't even got a gun, you know what I'm saying? But it's like everybody's embracing this dude because they feel like he's being him, like you said, like the motherfuckers on the corner, they hey, leave buddy alone, like you know, shorty on his.
SPEAKER_05:He protected, right?
SPEAKER_10:Shorty on his music shit, bro. You know what I'm saying? And he stayed true to himself. That's that's why I think that album was like super fucking dope. Like, I mean, like artistically, super fucking dope. And it's Chicago, too. Like, that's one, you know, sometimes motherfuckers wanna make. uh you know songs about Chicago like they from Chicago and don't it don't sound like it sounds forced it sounds like uh it's kind of like the equivalent of shit Shira it it's it's Chicago but it's not Chicago it's filmed here but that's about it but if that's the case then that means Dark Knight is very much Chatown yes we're if we're gonna do that with Mike Lee good point good point okay so season under the shot wasn't Chicago to me not in my opinion I didn't film it I was kind of like eh or maybe we was just being too hard on him you know second season yeah you know as it kept on going yeah now force with Tommy E nigga that is not Chicago at all and you don't even feel it at all you don't even feel at all and I say I'll let to say this the chance album was that acid rap you heard it and it was like nigga that's Chicago that's that's that's from the city bro you know I'm saying that motherfucker from here and if he ain't from here then he might as well be from here you get what I'm saying so that's why we don't cling it give some time shot that is true wrong with it not at all not at all do you think do you think that acid rap is relatable now absolutely okay why I I think like I was saying before there's so much going on in the world people are finding ways to unplug from the alerts of society and the things that are happening around them so that they're able to ground themselves in however that looks like or cause themselves from reality to go okay I need to make it for some people that might be I gotta go step by side smoke 50 cigarettes.
SPEAKER_04:For some people it might be hey I gotta go home I'm having a glass some people hey you gonna you're gonna do what you do to escape your reality because it's just it's so much societal pressure right now. I love like my nephew he he's just turned 18 he's somebody that I love putting on to new music because his ear and his appreciation for like you said the artwork he's one of the ones that I'm like when they said when he said children out of futures he was talking about him so when he heard this project for the first time like he would hear me playing it growing up but like as an adult now and him hearing it he was like this give like I said Summertime Chicago um his favorite track is of course juice because it just it's very fun but paranoia was his second favorite track. He's somebody who he just lost a homie a couple months ago and so going through the I don't want to say the darker side of the album but the more heavier topics in the album they resonated. And to be able to share that with the next generation is like all right we might be doing something right here sharing our art forms.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah and that's important that's important and and I think that sometimes that we downplay the importance of the arts you see what I'm saying like really that's how we communicate that's that's that's how we uh that's how we carry cultures you know what I'm saying it's it's it's through the arts whether it's through the music whether it's through the visuals whether it's through books whether it's through movies that's how we carry the culture and that's in my opinion that's how the culture changes because you think about what's acceptable now compared to what was acceptable in 2013 you know what I'm saying and I can almost guarantee you that has something to do with the art. It has something to do with what people were being entertained by what people were being persuaded by. So it's like the arts are fucking important and so to me that's why I have such a huge concern with AI because there's no soul in AI. No it's it's it's quick um and it can save you a lot of money because you don't have to pay motherfuckers to um to make a album cover for you or some shit like that but it's no soul in it.
SPEAKER_04:There's no soul in it so it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't carry a culture in my opinion you know but that's just my little rant no you're not wrong because I feel you on that I got my own reasons why I can't get with AI I understand like uh there's some people who use it as a crutch in life like you said they they want to put out an album they don't need anybody to do their visual artwork because they're going through AI to do it. They don't need a producer because they're pushing it through chat GPT to help them fine-tune the project but it don't give blood sweat and tears and you can hear that in a good project because it's truly a form of art the same way you wouldn't ask Chat GPT to come out with the next version of Van Gogh or Percanto because you you can't replicate that. That comes with life and experience. Even with like you were saying um culture music being culture um back to Vic Mitchell on the project him sounding like a drum I was talking with my best friend she is Middle Eastern and I always love to tell people like how I met her. Her parents were getting married and they do this thing where they all line up on the front of the house and it's like a couple days before the wedding and you got people playing different instruments playing drums and stuff about hearing that drum go off as black people we like who is that what's going on what is that so now we out there like you said okay now we dancing with them we don't even know these people they don't speak a lick of English only the kids do but that drum beat went so hard you gotta let me come see what that's about. And that's that was the start of our friendship was her uncle was outside beating on a drum and I was like that was a that was a hard D drop who's playing that that's that's a song or no he's live playing music and starting a conversation from hi I'm Leah what is this what's going on tell me about your culture tell me everything to growing up with my brother being in an African drum troupe and I'm like it sounded familiar being from two different sides of the globe but still being familiar to each other musical do that yeah music does it every time it connects you and it's kind of like like really good music like really good organic artistic music is like weed and I'll explain it um I don't listen because you can go to a party well I don't but I don't know about now but you can get to a circle of people and they pass some weed around you don't even know these motherfuckers sometimes you just hide you know and and you can start conversing with a motherfucker from that point on.
SPEAKER_10:You get what I'm saying now I don't know about now because some of the shit they put in this you know I'm saying motherfuckers dropping like flies but there was a time where it was like man you just walk up on motherfucking and they go ahead bro hit it you know what I'm saying and you can just start conversing people and I think that kind of like that's how really good organic authentic music is like it it pulls you in. You know what I'm saying pulls you in because the artist is the artist has they created something that resonated with you in some in some shape form or fashion whether it was the sound of that drum the pattern of that drum that that lyric that that that melody it did something it it it it evoked some type of emotion and I always tell people emotions are not man made you get what I'm saying you can't go to jewel and buy happiness you get what I'm saying no it's not on the show no I mean I can go buy lemon marine pie and that may make me make me happy it does but that's not that's not by happiness you get what I'm saying or you can't go by sadness you know like that you know emotions are not are not man made so when when the artist can come along and create something that evokes an emotion in you that's very powerful shit and I think that uh chance deserves his flowers for what he did with acid rap because he he he pulled it off whether whether he was high or not you know I'm saying nine times out of ten he was high uh but it is you know it is what it is some people have some people have been high as fuck and created trash so you know we hear it every day exactly exactly exactly um I really do honestly appreciate this conversation which because uh just to get an idea uh from from from from a different perspective from someone that's like younger than me you know I'm saying we're not gonna talk about you said it not me we're not gonna speak about much younger but just to get a perspective on it and just to see how this album affected different people you know what I'm saying I think I I I think the stamp on it is that it was dope definitely a dope album we'll stand the test of time and uh do we really want him to get back to that to that channel probably wouldn't be good for him I don't think it would be good for him right but do I want to see him give a version of that could he do it sober?
SPEAKER_04:I think so I think it's gonna take the right curation of circumstances I think it'll happen.
SPEAKER_10:I think it'll happen I don't think you make that sober I don't I just don't okay well maybe he could smoke a little weed it's legal here you know yeah I don't I don't I don't I mean not not to take away from his talent I'm just saying I think that at some point sometimes you gotta be so that's his Mona Lisa is what you're telling me is it's gonna get no better than this.
SPEAKER_04:I mean yeah uh no I'm not gonna say that I'm not gonna call him a bad artist because some of it like I said he's got like on coloring book it's some tracks on there that I'm gonna play on repeat.
SPEAKER_10:Right. Um starlight it's a few tracks on there I'm gonna play but nothing resonated me with me thus far like acid rap has and I think a lot of core chance rapper fans will say that yeah I I have to agree I have to agree but we give kudos to him we give him his flowers we're gonna give him his flowers yeah he he created he created something that could not be duplicated not at all and then and and I think right there's right there is one of the highest compliments you can give an artist and but I also think sometimes that might be uh it's a pro and a con to it because it's like you create some shit that you can't duplicate and it's like fuck.
SPEAKER_04:The bar has been set so high you you can't stop it. Right damn I'm glad we got it and I'm glad I got to experience it from the beginning because there's nothing like knowing somebody's gonna drop a project and hearing it as soon as it drops and experiencing that for the first time. Yeah for sure well what do you want to leave the people with Leah what words of wisdom what gems do you want to drop on the people let's go through this new year taking moments for ourselves you gotta you gotta take a moment for yourself in a in a positive way I'm not saying you don't need to have a drink I'm not needing to say you don't need to have a smoke but take a moment ground yourself because it's a lot going on and I think people forget to take time to unwind and take a moment yourself.
SPEAKER_14:So just remember take a moment for yourself y'all heard it here thank you so much for your time thank you so much for your time we will talk later definitely and we'll later later yo uh check it out y'all if y'all get a chance y'all make sure y'all go check out that acid rap uh from chance to rap a dope album very dope album and I really love I really appreciate the way that Leah broke those songs down and explained it from a different perspective um because art is art is supposed to evoke emotion and it's supposed to uh encourage uh conversation and dialogue and I was happy to do that with Leah so at this point in time um we're gonna get into a mix and this mix is dedicated solely to the acid rap album from Chance Rapper y'all right here on the Shits Podcast it's the shit DJ Monsoons the rock the dopest DJ you've heard thus far than I was the last time baby back I'm back goddamn I'm good we back and we back and we back and we back just made me anxious and that just made me quick wax just made me looser that wax just made me lazy and I still make this off and I'ma make nothing whatever actually did me better watch out for my brother better better make that video that I'll watch out of my mother you know what all that letters don't make the lodgers never make the brother's been on the button for butter my mother but the fucking motherfucking sucker crack it jacked jack it's like it's clapper rocky rocky rock take the left tapping rocky rocky rap on the lack of take the bumpy on the electrical like the back of the back of my page of what they don't like to play with two to break with two button with two lack of just on the four with two like two flipped just loose we don't want to be but you got to be asked asked me some of what we last we just baby that's like this bad before they ask me always always never been back asked it asked it that's it melt the flip fired talk in big burp if this was work I'd get hired my milk burping burning bit with look at these flip look at these flip on it don't break me off the bitch then a dead chocolate The books broke it. Go stop broke on when I'm sourced. I can't win and all skin. Rushing accent or skin. Ask it out of the skin.
SPEAKER_12:I got it, I got it.
SPEAKER_14:I got it, the juice, I got it. Gotta give me one sentence more. Maybe I just gotta get suspended more. Hashtag it, get mentors for. Make you love it, get extended more. And then act humble. Hit some bull that some do mumble. Wanna jump do it, but let that nigga pump you. Knowing bitch niggas wanna bring us to the rumbles. But I love y'all be so. Don't let the juice feel Pac. Blue Hill pop. Till you feel good enough to pop the pop bitch in the blue heels. Yeah, that one. Drown in the juice, nigga. Honey booth get found in the youth, nigga. Drop with on a try and introduce, nigga. Everybody know you do you the new nigga. Cause the villa be you, yo know say. I ain't really been myself since podcast. I ain't really need to need that shop class. I ain't really been weak since Pop Smash. Some a genius, a motherfuckin' pop smash. Hit since they Master Jack and Liz ain't why he can't be.
SPEAKER_12:I got the juice, I got the shoes.
SPEAKER_13:Yep.
SPEAKER_12:Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. I got the juice, I got ten damn dates.
SPEAKER_14:And now I got the chauffeur with the shoes and shows and chauffeurs. Roll rage. So the same damn ass left. Ah always. Still gotta let him in, no breaking. Still gotta burn him in, no lagin. Still a lot of jams, nigga, no jacksin, no joy, we soak taggin'. I take it to the land with a leg made of sand in the mouth. Don't pour in the honey, don't dance, and the money ain't yours. Now it's just a red pill, got a blue and a handful of ad bills. I'm the new nigga, fuckin' nigga the old me. So I'ma tell the bio ditty told me I got that, mm-mm.
SPEAKER_00:I got that, goddamn. I'm your push a man. I'm your I'm your push a man. Slap it, toe, tagging. I'm just tryna fight the man. I'm your push a man. I'm your I'm your push a man. I got that push that I got pushed up.
SPEAKER_07:I'm your push up, yo, I'm your push a man. I'm just trying to fight the man. I'm your push a man. I'm your I'm your push a bad. I'm just trying to fight the man. I'm your push a man. I'm your I'm your push a man.
SPEAKER_14:I'll keep keeping low-key like Thorlo, or he'll go blow the loudie. Saudi, if sour, southy. Wiley up off peyote, whilein' like that coyote. If I tip any, any, my belly just might be outy. Pull up inside a hooky, start skiin' hutch a duckie. I just gon' bend up the packing and hour all as my lucky. Tonight she just yellin' fuck me. Two weeks she'll be yellin', fuck me. Used to like orange cassette with Timmy, Tommy and Ducky and Chucky, Jesus, pieces, Jesus, pieces, sing Jesus love me. Put vacine inside my eyes. So my grandma would fucking hug me. Old generation above me. I know you still remember me. My Afro look just like that. Is y'all taught me how to go hunting? Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stink.
SPEAKER_11:I got pearls in my dog. My homies don't kiss me.
SPEAKER_14:I miss my cocoa buttons, kisses. Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stink. I got burrows in my woods. On my homies, think it. I miss my cocoa buttons, kisses.
SPEAKER_13:I miss my cocoa buttons, I will smoke a little something, but I don't inhale. Everywhere that I go, everywhere the BX has a go instead of go ins. Well, go figure, victors like skin Jesus, got me feelin' like colin bell. All praise to the guy, God knows he's a pro, he's a pro, like co intel, check, check, make, check me, take me to the rubber like you know me well. I mean normal, do you see normal jean with a ticket with farmer? Fill with these kids these days, they get so high, burn three smoke chlorophyll. Build to the kid, build this shit, face, bass this 15 hits on it's an L. Elevated train and the craziest thing. Get me feelin' like Laura Hill. Misseducated my dick, delegated rap bill. Bellamy that said I should've never made it, probably should've been dead or injoy. Dead be dead. Enough of that jazz, asshole absent up in that class. Are we there yet? Ice cube to the bone, rip green, dead, take a talk in the past. I think we all addicted. I think we all addicted. Really though. I think we all addicted. Yeah. I think we all addicted. Cigarettes on cigarettes. My mama think I stink. I got burn holes in my memories. My homies think it stink. I miss my cocoa butter kisses. Kisses, kisses. I think we all addicted. Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stink.
SPEAKER_14:I got burn holes in my bookies.
unknown:I miss my cocoa buttons, but the kisses. I miss my cocoa buttons.
SPEAKER_11:Twitch and I'm twisting the demo.
SPEAKER_01:I can make a blow, hit a powder with a paddle, fit of juicy. Not to be addicted to a groupie. I ended up on a high cover in the goofy UC. I be still a guy but the goofy dooby. Blowin' up my drugs in the ooze. That's the dual principle. Sometimes I'ma be up by some hoes, sometimes I'ma wanna make a movie. And when it comes to rapping fast, I'm the Higgs Bosa. And throw my style freaking shaken still work your body down the five pieces like a dead Voltra. Yeah. Cause I'm addicted to the crap and I be off of OG. No me. I'm the only one, can only get a do see. Never scared the mean spirits, but the better mean lyrics. Coolin' like a mother codeine, low-key. Don't be so judgmental, even though I'm reminiscent.
unknown:If I don't know what I miss is, I'ma end up figuring up that it's home and my mother and my grandmother cover butter. Kisses, this is just a testament to the ones that raise me. The ones that I praise and I'm thanking.
SPEAKER_01:I need a butt crying call up in my clothes, and I wanna get a hug, and I can't cause I'm stinkin'. Number two old for a spankin'.
SPEAKER_13:I better make sure I don't think it's stink, I'm gonna do it. I think we all addicted.
SPEAKER_11:I got burrows in my baby, so my homies think it's a big shout out the chance to rap. Shout out to my girl Leah for being on the podcast. Shout out to Chicago for supporting. Apple Podcasts for my X Free Podcast X. And I'm your DJ and your host, DJ Monsoons to Rob.
SPEAKER_08:D D DJ Monsoon's to rock. The dopest DJ you've heard thus far.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah, yeah, we're in uh back with the shit podcast. We assume the shit starts some shit. Oh, we're picking up a shit left off. And this week, y'all, we was uh pretty much talking shit and we talking shit about albums, talking shit about music, not really talking shit, we're talking about music. I love music is very important. I think the art is very important and um this week we're talking about uh.