Chance The Rapper caught a Wonder-filled spirit and ran with it during his visit to NPR’s “Tiny Desk” last month (June 5). The Chicago native graced their office with a slowed rendition of “Juke Jam.” With the assistance of Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment’s, trumpeter Nico Segal, keyboardist Peter Wilkins, drummer Greg Landfair Jr., singer-songwriter Rachel Cato and singing trio Thirdstory, Chance was able to serenade the audience with the divinity of Stevie Wonder’s “They Won’t Go When I Go.”
The 24-year-old artist is no stranger to publicly basking in the glory of his religious beliefs. For all of the Chano fans, the performance was a refreshing addition to his “Tiny Desk” set. Chancellor also dedicated Wonder’s 1974 hit to “somebody close to [him] who just lost somebody close to them.”
Harmonizing a double-sided tale of making it to the pearly white gates in the sky, while topping off the breaks in the song with his “huh” ad lib, the artist feeds off the empowerment of the song as he sings “Big men feeling small/weak ones standing tall/I will watch them fall,” smiling slightly and pumping his fists.
Chocked in between his Coloring Book track and Stevie Wonder’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale tune, Chance recited an original poem that he’d written that same day entitled, “The Other Side.”
“On the other side was a presidential suite, complete with living rooms and empty beds and rainfall shower head fixture and the freedom to smoke big dope,” the Acid Rap lyricist began. “And the possibility of making a beautiful girl I just met map out how many times her apartment could fit in this room – if I could just get in. The card stop working, they used to though.”
After joking about being interrupted by someone on the loudspeaker, Chano continued to describe a life parallel to the lavish one described prior. The father of one, details another filled with love and family, without the flashy “record-player-for-the-hoes” aesthetics, while his performance is topped off with much expected, and equally deserved, applause and cheers.
Peep the Chicago-spun “Tiny Desk” vibes above.