By now, you've probably seen the video of Chance the Rapper performing "Ultralight Beam," his standout feature on Kanye West's new album, at a SoundCloud party in Manhattan last week. The clip, originally shot by Esquire's Matt Miller and subsequently picked up by music blogs far and wide, is neat in itself. But buried in Miller's report from the show is news that Chance told audiences his new mixtape, the massively anticipated follow-up to 2013's Acid Rap, will drop later this month.
That's an exciting bit of information—but take it with a grain of salt. This is the same Chance who said that Surf, his latest project with Donnie Trumpet, would drop by the end of 2014. Once it hadn't, he told a Michigan audience in April 2015 that he'd release the album within a week. It finally arrived a month later, on May 29.
Past Surf, Chance has been teasing this particular solo mixtape for a year and a half now. It's maybe called Sox; it maybe involves André 3000; it probably features his newest singles "Angels" and "Somewhere in Paradise," and once it's out, it will probably be amazing. But for now, Chance saying he's about to drop an album is about as reliable as, well, Kanye saying he's about to drop an album.
As of this posting, Chance's management had not responded to a request for comment. We'll update you if he does. Until then, you can find Chance throwing the first pitch at his beloved White Sox's home opener Friday at 3 p.m.