Watch Chance The Rapper Perform A Dramatic “Child Of God” & Talk About Visiting Ghana On Colbert
Is the world ready for Chance The Rapper to come back? After a few years of total omnipresence, Chance released the hyped-up album The Big Day in 2019, and he lost whatever momentum that he had going. The whole narrative of Chance’s arc isn’t what you want, but the man can still make music, and now he’s back to doing that. Last month, Chance returned with the new single “Child Of God,” which features guest vocals from Moses Sumney and cover art from the the Gabonese artist Naïla Opiangah. In the video, Chance raps the song while Opiangah paints the cover art behind him. Last night, Chance made his big return to late-night TV, performing his new song and talking about it with Stephen Colbert.
On last night’s Late Show, Chance, who is still wearing the 3 hat, performed “Child Of God” while sitting in front of the Naïla Opiangah painting from the single’s cover art. The stage set was made up to look a bit like a museum, with Chance rapping on a raised platform with string musicians off to either side of it and with the lyrics flashing on the screen. Moses Sumney did not take part in the performance, but Naïla Opiangah joined Chance onstage at the end. The whole thing has a real Def Poetry Jam vibe, but that’s nothing new for Chance. Chance isn’t really trying to switch his style up, and he still knows how to perform on TV.
Chance also sat down for an interview with Colbert. In their conversation, Chance talked about visiting Ghana and about visiting Moses Sumney, who was staying in the country at the same time, to record “Child Of God.” (Colbert also mentioned a new album that’s also called Child Of God, but it’s possible that he misspoke.) Chance and Colbert also bonded over having their own Ben & Jerry’s flavors; Chance’s Mint Chocolate Chance is apparently out now. Watch the performance and the interview below.