“Star Line” has been called Chance the Rapper’s “most ambitious and personal project to date.” It’s also his first new album in six years.
The artist will kick off his And We Back Tour Sep. 26. Tickets go on general sale Friday at 10 a.m.
The album’s title is a nod to Marcus Garvey’s Black Star Line, a Black-owned steam ship line initiated in 1919 — after which Chance and Vic Mensa’s free 2023 music festival in Ghana was also named.
In a 2023 interview with Vocalo, Chance described taking pride in the project as a work-in-progress.
“All these amazing, important Black artists, producers, painters, all of these people that are in the pantheon of Black iconography have been coming and helping me build this project,” he said.
The rapper hosted a Chicago “Star Line” listening party July 31, later making a brief appearance at Lollapalooza to promote the completed project with a crowded set on Perry’s Stage. According to media materials, the album is inspired by both the rapper’s roots in Chicago and travels to Ghana, Jamaica and international art fairs. It will incorporate hip-hop and soul with lyrics focusing on identity, legacy and resilience.
Chance first teased a new project, often also referred to as “Star Line Gallery,” in 2022 with the release of several singles and accompanying artworks — like “Child of God,” with a large-scale painting by Naïla Opiangah displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The project’s cover art is a painting by Chicago painter Brandon Breaux, who also made the cover art for “Coloring Book,” “Acid Rap” and “10 Day.”
Morgan Ciocca is the digital producer for Vocalo.
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