In 2016, Chance the Rapper released his impressive self-proclaimed album, Coloring Book, which changed the music industry’s view of streaming. The album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 without a single “sale” and took home three Grammys. 

To support his Coloring Book mixtape, the ‘No Problem’ rapper invited some of his biggest fans and filmed his inaugural Magnificent Coloring World concert experience at his hometown of Chicago in secret. 

Chance initially intended to make a movie for the big screen, however, the footage ended up being stowed away for four years since he did not know how to edit it and was also creatively sidetracked over the years. 

But while hunkered down in his home during the pandemic, the artist retreated to his very own movie set and recording studio, House of Kicks, to educate himself about the craft of filmmaking and finish what he started. 

The movie, directed by Jake Schreier, features six sound stages and nine cameras, and the entire concert was filmed three separate times to get the footage for the final cut. 

The trailer, which dropped almost a month ago, provided the first look at Chance’s energetic performances with never-before-seen footage, along with reinvented versions of fan-favorite songs. It also featured testimonials from fans who attended the unique concert experience. 

The Creative Process

Chance has cemented the legacy of Coloring Book with this film, but for the rapper, creating this documentary was more challenging than he expected. 

Before the official release of his film, he sat down with Variety to discuss the creative process. When asked what inspired the rapper to work on this film again, he explained that he always had an interest in filmmaking. 

I guess it was my close proximity to filmmaking. During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time studying film and watching video essays. But I’ve always been a big movie guy and always loved going specifically to movie theaters. 

The Magnificent Coloring World movie is not the rapper’s first rodeo in filmmaking. Chance has hosted and performed several virtual concerts, including his last holiday concert film Chi-Town Christmas — which he wrote, directed, and eventually worked with editors.

Chi-Town Christmas was the largest project he'd done and was filmed at the same soundstage [as Magnificent Coloring World] in Chicago, where they shoot many movies and TV shows. This gave him enough confidence to revisit the idea of making his own film.

According to the rapper, unlike other concert films, his will be a one-time experience because it was made for the camera. 

The concert film will celebrate the fifth anniversary of Coloring Book and will make history for being the first time a music artist has independently distributed a movie of this scale through AMC Theatres. 

The cinematic documentation will premiere in theaters on August 13.