Earlier today, Chance the Rapper unveiled a series of releases: a song, art and music video for “A Bar About a Bar.” Ever the overlapping artist, Chance blends the arts in this music video, finding a unique pocket that speaks to “the relationship between music, cinema, and contemporary art, redefining the concept of ‘album art.’”
Watch the video and listen to the song here:
The video kicks off with Chance, “friend and frequent collaborator, Vic Mensa,” and painter Nikko Washington in the House of Kicks studio. Mensa asks what Chance has written down ten minutes into a writing exercise, and Chance rips into the first line after turning to his friend and taking a breath: “I got a bar about a bar.”
Before we’re transported to a bar reminiscent of a nostalgic movie set, there’s a shot of Chance’s profile from the nose down, and we focus on his mouth and the words it spills. The lyrics tell the story of a bar and its characters, the video portraying “highly cinematic vignettes of the far fetched tale.” Each word appears at the center of the screen, sometimes broken up by syllable in a manner seen previously in his song and video “Child of God.”
The video features continued collaboration between Chance, who directed the “A Bar About a Bar” video, and Troy Gueno, who worked with the cinematography. In March of this year, Gueno acted as director for Chance’s “Child of God” video, which has garnered 3.6 million views on YouTube since its release two months ago.
Washington’s art takes inspiration from “unorthodox, Afro-futuristic, and surrealist depiction of racial inequality, racial integration, and classism in the suburbs of white America.” The completed piece is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna
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