Chance The Rapper has teamed up with the legendary DJ Premier for his new single — and it comes equipped with an important message.
Released on Tuesday (May 14), “Together” is the latest offering from the Chicago rapper’s upcoming project Star Line.
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On the song, Chance preaches the importance of family and community while reflecting on his own upbringing in nostalgic detail.
“We used to watch ‘Annie, are you okay?’ on the couch/ My cousin used to slam me ’til I punched him in the mouth/ My auntie used to cook for 20 people every week/ My uncle in the basement even if they never speak,” he raps, highlighting the beauty and warmth in dysfunction.
However, the second verse reveals the true intent behind the track as the activist MC calls for housing justice in his hometown of Chicago.
“This the homebase, you gotta watch ’em, they’ll right time you at the wrong place/ If you on your celly phone more than a phone case, they’ll take your crib to go, slide on your home plate/ We need CBA, CBA, CBA, Barry/ Before they build another golf course, library/ Or send an eminent domain to Miss Mary/ It’s gonna get scary, young Jeffery, young Larry,” he spits.
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Emphasizing this message, Chance wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “This is a song about housing justice painted with nostalgia. I hope the memories can elevate the core message rather than bury it.”
Anchoring the song is a distinctly boom bap beat from DJ Premier, who flips the same sample he used on fellow Windy City lyricist Common‘s classic 2000 song “The 6th Sense.”
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“Together” also closes out with scratches of Common’s vocals from that song, bringing the whole thing full circle.
Chance, who serves as a judge on NBC’s The Voice, also performed “Together” for the first time during Tuesday night’s episode of the show.
“Together” follows the release of “Buried Alive” in April, which saw Chance The Rapper touching on his recent divorce and legal dispute with his ex-manager.
“Where’s his money now? Wherе his wife at?/ Where his managеr? Where his hype at?/ Then they threw the dirt on the casket,” he rapped on the song.
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Star Line will serve as the long-awaited follow-up to Chano’s debut studio album The Big Day, which arrived to mixed reviews in 2019.
Fueling excitement for his return, the Grammy-winner called Star Line one of his “proudest” projects in an interview last year.
“It’s one of my proudest projects in terms of writing and artistic vision,” he said during an appearance on Audacy Check In. “There’s an immense amount of work to be done with it.
“But it’s cool ‘cause I feel like with the love and intentionality that goes into making each physical art piece gives me an opportunity to show people in these museum spaces what I’m working on as I go, the highs and the lows, kind of like a preview to the project.”
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In addition to “Together,” Chance The Rapper has also announced a listening party for Star Line. The event is called “Writings on the Wall” and takes place on Saturday evening (May 18) in Los Angeles.
He also posted a phone number, 312 494 1081, on Instagram through which fans can receive more details about the event.
