Album: Surf (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This upbeat, piano-driven song is a collaboration between Chance the Rapper, his frequent collaborators Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment and vocalist Jamila Woods. Chance said: "It's my curation, but then bringing it to the table with all these beautiful people and including them in their own way. Jamila sang on that hook, then I brought it to the collective. Peter (Cottontale) added some great layers of texture and helped produce, Nate (Fox) added a bunch of drums, tons of our friends from Chicago played instruments and added their ideas."
  • The song's retro one-shot music video was directed by Chicago filmmaker Austin Vesely ("Everybody's Something") from a concept by Chance The Rapper. According to the rapper, it's all "in honor of teamwork and positivity and grandmas."
  • The video was shot in one day, but the sets took about two weeks to build. The dancers in the clip are from Save Money, a Chicago troupe that the video's director Austin Vesely worked with on the Vic Mensa/Nico Segal video for "Clear Eyes."

    Chance the Rapper wanted something theatrical after seeing The Lion King on Broadway, and with that in mind, they came up with the continuous-shot concept set around the candy shop. The benchmark for one-shot videos is OK Go (especially their treadmill video for "Here It Goes Again"), so Vesely and Chance spoke with Tim Nordwind from that group to get insights. Thanks to rigorous preparation, they needed just eight takes to get it right.
  • Chance The Rapper performed this song with Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment during his debut Saturday Night Live appearance on December 12, 2015. The Chicago rapper, who also premiered a new song, "Somewhere in Paradise," made history by becoming the first unsigned artist to perform on the show.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."