"Blessings"

Chance the Rapper was a major player in Kanye West’s turn toward gospel on The Life of Pablo. His verse on the ascending opener “Ultralight Beam” remains its spiritual focal point, and the song is the closest it ever gets to basking in the heavenly grace it seeks. Chance isn’t oblivious to the divine favor he’s earned, and he continues to pay his tithes in lyrics. “I made 'Sunday Candy,' I'm never going to hell/I met Kanye West, I'm never going to fail,” he rapped triumphantly. He doubles down on both claims with the full-fledged benediction “Blessings,” which he debuted on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” backed by a full gospel choir in sweeping white robes. This is chapter and verse, standing at the pulpit and earning an ordination through lyrical sacrament.

Chance is a prodigious talent whose wordplay often surges with the spontaneity of off-top splendor, dollops of sweet, giggly serendipity. But on “Blessings” he is deliberate and purposeful in his pursuits, guided by the strength of his zeal. He remains his usual well-intentioned self, and his raps are no less scintillating, but he is merely a vessel for Holy Spirit here. Piety isn’t required to feel the snug embrace of his comfort and conviction. “I don’t make songs for free; I make ‘em for freedom,” he opens, untethered to the burdens of the mortal coil in this moment. Jamila Woods, who was the vocal center of Surf’s “Sunday Candy,” returns to offer her praises as a supplement. In tandem, they revel in their compensation, in both this life and the next one. “There ain’t no Twitter in heaven,” he raps, almost as if that’s a blessing in and of itself.

As they trade hails, accents flourish around them: a drum kick, the warm, neon glow of keyboard chords, a sermon from Byron Cage, and the improvisational wonder of Donnie Trumpet, who riffs whenever Chance feels shortness of breath. His playing zigs and zags right into the weight of the choir’s mighty exhale for the finale, which swells as wide as Chance’s infectious grin. “Blessings” isn’t a prayer as much as a profession of faith. In fact, the prayers have already been answered. Ultimately, it’s a song about music as a godsend, about being rewarded for trust and optimism with good fortune, and in turn blessing others through that music to pay it forward.