“Summer Friends” – Chance the Rapper

I’d like to start this semester with one of the most slept-on songs on Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book mixtape that was released in May of last year. This mixtape gained Chance a lot of hype but much of the attention was paid on the more upbeat music. This is one of Chance’s slower songs and talks about the crime that has been occurring in Chicago which is where Chance was born and raised.

Chance begins by setting the scene of his childhood. He talks about how he used to be a troublesome kid and many of his friends were too. He says that none of them had a father figure in their lives leading them to a childhood filled with petty crime. He goes on to talk about how in his childhood gang violence began to rise. He remembers having to come in before it got dark due to the high risk of crime that occurred on a nightly basis.

He then went on to talk about how things get even worse in the summer when school lets out. Due to the large volume of teens not in school and the warm temperature, more people were out and up to no good. He talks about how most teens ended up in jail or lost their lives. The large amount of gang related deaths ruined the summertime for most people that lived in Chicago. Instead of ice cream and swimming pools, people in Chicago are just exposed to a constant war zone.

The main line of the chorus reads, “Summer friends don’t stay.” This was the unfortunate truth for Chicago children. At any point you could lose your closest friend which is something I can’t even imagine. I come from a rough part of Philadelphia but the violence does not go to the same extent as Chicago.

Chance then goes on to talk about the strong work ethic that was instilled in him from a young age. He talks about how his mother would do people’s hair on the side for extra money in addition to the long nights his father would work to provide for the family. Seeing how hard his family worked prompted him, to adopt a good work ethic at a young age. He would mow loans for extra money which treated him well financially. His drive to work hard still remains with him today as he spends long nights every day working on his music.

At the end of the song Jeremih hops on to talk about his youth in Chicago. He had a very tight knit group of friends that looked out for each other. They were so close that they felt like a family and losing any of their friends was like losing a blood relative due to how close they were.

This song just really hits me because I think of the reality of so many young people in Chicago on a daily basis. Growing up in a rough neighborhood you see a lot of things and have many experiences, but I know that my experiences are nowhere near the experiences of young people there.

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