Chance the Rapper
w/ La Reezy
The Ryman Auditorium; Nashville, TN
Aug. 30, 2026
Review by Philip Obenschain. Photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship.
It has been a strange and somewhat turbulent past decade for famed hip hop artist Chance the Rapper, but there’s no denying that back in 2016, when he released his third mixtape, Coloring Book, which would go on to win multiple Grammys and catapult him to superstar status, Chance was on top of the world. Fiercely independent and part of an extremely talented, eclectic young wave of Chicago artists who emerged in the 2010s as a more positive and substantive counter to the city’s popular drill scene of that era, Chance found moderate success with his 2011 debut mixtape, 10 Day, then really took off with the following year’s brilliant, experimental, and critically acclaimed Acid Rap. Just a few years later, by Coloring Book, he was a superstar, headlining festivals, collaborating with some of the biggest names in music, hosting SNL, and playing to massive crowds around the globe. An exemplar of the last gasp of the “millennial optimism” of the Obama era, in a pre-pandemic, pre-AI, pre-algorithmically-dictated-social-media world (there’s a reason the internet is so obsessed with 2016 nostalgia right now), Chance’s breakthrough certainly had a little to do with time and place- with his unrelenting joy and positivity striking a chord in that moment- but, undoubtedly, was owed to his immense talent as well (Coloring Book remains one of the best hip hop records of that era).
Just as swiftly as he’d managed to tap into the zeitgeist, though, Chance (born Chancellor Bennett), found himself at odds with it, with his 2019 debut studio album The Big Day failing to resonate, and inexplicably derailing his career in a way that still hasn’t totally rebounded (Is it as good as the preceding mixtapes? No. But did it warrant so much of an entire fanbase collectively checking out? Definitely not.). Last year’s Star Line proved something of a promising return to form, and an anniversary run for Acid Rap a few years ago helped bring some old fans back into the fold, but, still, more than a decade later, Chance is a bit more of a cult artist than the mainstream star he seemed destined to remain. Seemingly taking it all in stride, though, and looking forward with his latest music, while also celebrating the nostalgia of his past, Chance is in the midst of a massive 10th anniversary run for Coloring Book, which recently returned him to Nashville for his first Music City headliner in many, many years, for an intimate show at The Ryman Auditorium (he last headlined Vanderbilt’s Rites of Spring in 2015, and played Bonnaroo nearby as recently as 2017, but hadn’t played a solo Nashville headliner since way back in 2013, at Cannery Hall). And it was, as anticipated, everything we’d hoped for in a Chance the Rapper show in 2026- uplifting, nostalgic, joyous, and positive.
I was super into Acid Rap when it came out, so I was keenly aware of Chance’s early Nashville shows in 2013, but didn’t manage to see him live until a year later, at his first Bonnaroo. He’d pop up several times at subsequent ‘Roos, just genuinely as a fan of the fest and a surprise guest, earning the unofficial title of the Mayor of Bonnaroo, before going on to serve as a headliner in 2017 (honestly, that feels crazier to me than Coloring Book turning 10; I could’ve sworn Chance had been back to Bonnaroo more recently than almost a decade ago). And I guess that’s the last time I saw him perform; all within a whirlwind of just a few short years. I really loved his music then, but, like many, I kind of fell off and haven’t revisited it so much in the 2020s (I wouldn’t say I ever turned on him, or saw him retroactively in a different light, as some seemed to, but I also wasn’t super into The Big Day). Still, a chance to see one of my favorite artists of that era perform one of his best works (Acid Rap still reigns for me), at a spot so special and smaller than anywhere I’d seen him before, was a really exciting prospect, and in relistening to Coloring Book in preparation, I felt so transported back to that time and place, and remembered all over again why I loved it.
The Ryman was full and the crowd lively when I arrived, and it wouldn’t be long until opener La Reezy took the stage. I admittedly wasn’t really familiar with the young, New Orleans-based rapper before this, but in checking out a few of his songs ahead of time, I could see why Chance chose him to open, as his sound draws from many of the same influences, as well as Chance himself, and his attitude is also quite positive. Even not really knowing the songs- many of which I believe came from his recent debut album Skiddle Bandana– I was into it, impressed by the young MC’s great stage presence, confidence, and crowd work. His set was brief and fairly minimalist- just La Reezy and a backing keyboard player/DJ- but it worked well to get the crowd hyped up, and by the changeover, the room was packed and full of shared anticipation.
Always impressive with his visuals, I could tell Chance’s stage would be cool even before it was fully fired up, with a gigantic screen filling the back, angular lighting arrays, and cool, symmetrical risers built into the sides for his backing players. I took a peek at the setlist beforehand, so I already knew that rather than the straight playthrough then greatest hits encore approach some artists take to anniversary shows, his would be out of order and interspersed with other material, particularly from Star Line. Album opener “All We Got” still served as the show opener, though, and from the moment the rapper and his band took the stage- backed by orange, glowing visuals evocative of the classic album’s cover- the crowd felt palpably enamored and beyond hyped. An aspect of Chance’s artistry that didn’t seem as significant to me at the time, but feels so glaring in retrospect, is the importance of his faith (which, along with family, was the primary source of all that joy that fueled his music), and though 10 years ago I sort of just viewed Coloring Book as a conceptual gospel rap album, I now see that it was an artist finally feeling emboldened to lean into such an important part of his identity. I’m not an especially religious person myself, but I couldn’t help but feel the power of songs like “Blessings” which followed the show opener, especially performed in a venue that was once- and still feels like- a church, and I could see so much of the crowd being so palpably uplifted that even in moments where the show began to feel a bit too preachy, I didn’t mind it in context.
Though I haven’t spent as much time with it as I did with his older stuff, I actually really like Star Line quite a bit, so hearing some new tracks (“Ride” and “Tree” followed in the set) was cool, even if not exactly why we show up to album anniversaries. As a sort of quiet acknowledgement that the new stuff might not be as familiar to everyone, I noticed he put the lyrics on the screen for all of those tracks. After indulging in a bit of the new, it was back to a lot of Coloring Book though, giving us “Summer Friends,” accompanied by lots of clips of impressive feats from when the album was new (both nostalgic to watch, and a bit bittersweet to reflect on where his career was then and now), “Angels,” rowdy party-starter “All Night,” breakout single “No Problem” (I was a little surprised to see it show up so early, especially given the smoke and confetti to match, which would normally be used at the end of the night), and the vibey “Mixtape.” One of the more surprising setlist inclusions was one-off 2018 single “I Might Need Security,” which was followed by another earnest new one, “The Highs & The Lows,” and a Lauryn Hill cover, returning to the play-through with “Smoke Break” and “Juke Jam” (which, despite the cool visuals and everyone lighting up the place with their phones, aren’t my favorites from Coloring Book). If the Justin Bieber feature on “Juke Jam” never grabbed me, though, Chance’s feature with Bieber, Lil Wayne, and Quavo on DJ Khaled’s “I’m the One” is one of his biggest and catchiest collabs ever, and he admitted how much he loves that song, as he treated us to his verse.
The show never lost momentum, per se, but I think I would’ve preferred to hear Coloring Book in a block (I’m sure some concern that people might leave early factored into structuring it like this). The mid-show run of features and new stuff was cool though, with recent Hurricane Wisdom song “Barbie Doll,” vibey Star Line cut “Link Me in the Future,” and a very impassioned and spiritual rendition of his feature on Kanye’s “Ultralight Beam” (whatever my feelings of West lately, that song really is good, and feels kind of intertwined with Coloring Book and that mid-2010s moment). Serving as a sort of Kanye pairing, Chance played a reprise of “All We Got,” which famously featured West (I noticed that unlike some rap shows, where songs heavy on guest features use prerecorded tracks, Chance opted mostly to omit those parts), before kicking it back with “Sunday Candy,” a song from his old band, The Social Experiment, members of whom still collaborate and perform with him live (you could gauge the diehard fans from the casuals based on how hyped they were for this one). Rounding the home stretch for the anniversary tracks, “Finish Line / Drown” was a lot more fun and engaging live than it ever felt in recording, and the reprise of “Blessings” again put the church into the Mother Church (with the rapper taking the time to express a lot of gratitude for everyone for continuing to show up, and to check in, and to celebrate an album that meant so much to his life and career).
I hoped we’d get something, anything, from Acid Rap, and we did, near the end, with “Everybody’s Something,” not the one song I would’ve expected (I was hoping for “Cocoa Butter Kisses”), but cool to hear nonetheless (especially with the visual accompaniments of Chance from that era, reminding just how young he was at the start). After one final new one, “Pretty,” the main set ended with “D.R.A.M. Sings Special,” a great final swell of positivity to go out on. At this point, two Coloring Book songs were left, and I felt like “How Great” would be a weird encore inclusion- it turns out, he just doesn’t play it at all (unclear why). The other remaining track, though, I knew would happen- “Same Drugs,” which, though a spot I still would’ve expected big, popular, singalong-primed hit “No Problem” to fill instead of this more ballad-y, downtempo tune, made for a cool closer, as further throwback clips filled the screen, and then more confetti rained down. More than a decade after my last Chance the Rapper show, this experience felt truly as impactful, as moving, as uplifting as ever, and these Coloring Book tracks are still so fantastic. Maybe that joyous wave Chance was riding feels a bit harder to swallow in a contemporary world that feels a lot more bleak than the one in which he made this album, but maybe that’s exactly why we need Chance the Rapper back in the zeitgeist now more than ever. Regardless, I’m so glad to have seen these songs performed in such a special venue, and for a couple of hours, I was glad to have the world feel like 2016 again.
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All photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship
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Setlist:
All We Got
Blessings
Ride
Tree
Summer Friends
Angels
All Night
No Problem
Mixtape
I Might Need Security
The Highs & The Lows
Doo Wop (That Thing) / My Boo (Ms. Lauryn Hill cover)
Smoke Break
Juke Jam
I’m the One
Barbie Doll
Link Me in the Future
Ultralight Beam
All We Got
Sunday Candy (Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment cover)
Finish Line / Drown
Blessings (Reprise)
Everybody’s Something
Pretty
D.R.A.M. Sings Special
Same Drugs