After three monumental mixtapes, Chance the Rapper finally released his LP debut, “The Big Day.” However, the release misses nearly every expectation set for it. 

Chance the Rapper has developed vast amounts of fame and relevance in the hip-hop and greater music world through his three self-released mixtapes. It is rare for an artist to gain that much success from one, not signing with a record label, and two, only releasing mixtapes. 

Chance already had a solid discography before releasing a full LP, and that’s why this debut album was not only long sought after but also had high expectations. 

“The Big Day” feels incomplete and drawn out at the same time. The 22-song album, which includes three skits, makes up for its lack of quality with quantity. The runtime is nearly one hour and 20 minutes, and it feels twice as long. Most of the songs on this album are either mediocre or awful. There’s only a handful of songs that are worth anything, and even then, they are lacking compared to Chance’s previous releases. For an album with 19 songs, it’s surprising and disappointing that not a single one can stand out from the rest.

Often times, tracks overcrowded, partly because of the high number of features, partly because of the large number of things happening musically and partly because of the messiness of production. The entire album feels like too much is happening to understand it.

Chance tries to blend genres multiple times throughout this album and even steps out of his comfort zone with a few trap/mumble-rap-esque beats. However, nearly every attempt to experiment or deviate from his more traditional sound is met with awkwardness or awfulness. Even the songs that are more similar to his typical style aren’t up to par with the standard he’s set. 

Chance’s lyricism and songwriting are usually his strongest qualities, but this album does nearly all it can to tarnish that strength. Most of his lyrics are either cringe-worthy, cliche or completely childish.

One of the interesting aspects of this album is its features, the most notable being John Legend, Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Megan Thee Stallion, Gucci Mane, Shawn Mendes, Randy Newman, Nicki Minaj and many more. Most of the features aren’t anything special, and the good ones overshadow everything else on the track.

The more you listen to “The Big Day” the more you see its flaws, but surprisingly, they begin to grow on you. It doesn’t really get better, but you start to see that there was actual effort put into this album. Chance tries very hard to tell the listener how hard he’s worked, how great this album is and how it’s only the beginning, but he doesn’t do a good job of backing up his talk. Once you start to see that he actually tried, it makes it even more disappointing.

The overcrowded feeling of the album paired with the unending length and the poor craftsmanship leads this album to be a difficult and disappointing listen.

Album Rating: 1/10

Joel Thompson can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.