Acid Rap

Acid Rap is the second mixtape by American rapper Chance the Rapper. It was released on April 30, 2013, as a free digital download. In July 2013, the album debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, due to bootleg downloads on iTunes and Amazon not affiliated with the artist. The mixtape has been certified "diamond" on mixtape site Datpiff, for garnering over 10,000,000 downloads. The mixtape was re-released on commercial streaming platforms in June 2019, and is set to be followed by a vinyl release.
Background and production
Use of LSD
Chancelor Bennet has admitted that some LSD was used in the production of this mixtape. Bennett has said, " was a lot of acid involved in Acid Rap. I mean, it wasn't too much — I'd say it was about 30 to 40 percent acid... more so 30 percent acid." He has also made it clear that LSD's involvement was just a small factor in the making of the mixtape. Bennett has said that, "It wasn't the biggest component at all. It was something that I was really interested in for a long time during the making of the tape, but it's not necessarily a huge faction at all. It was more so just a booster, a bit of fuel. It's an allegory to acid, more so than just a tape about acid."
Cover art
The cover art for Acid Rap was based on a real picture taken at South by Southwest, an annual conglomerate of film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. The picture was taken by Brandon Beuax, who also designed the cover art for Bennett's previous mixtape 10 Day. The picture happened by chance, according to Beaux, "I had made these Tie Dye tank tops before we went to SXSW and I gave them to Chance… In the back of my mind I'm like I hope you wear this."
Production
Bennett used artists and producers from Chicago who he had also worked with before. The acid jazz sound of the mixtape can be attributed to the collaboration of artists and producers from multiple genres. Bennett has said, "People that I worked with on other projects from multiple genres just came together to make a dope tape." Bennett attributes most of the funky or jazz sound to Peter Cottontale saying, "Peter Cottontale is a really sick jazz pianist."
Bennett describes Acid Rap as more of a music based album and less of a story-based album when compared to his previous mixtape. When asked to compare 10 Day to Acid Rap Bennett said, "Acid Rap is just a whole different monster; it's me as an adult making great music instead of a kid trying to explain a story. It's less of a conceptual project. It's still very cohesive, storytelling-wise, and its own project. But it's more music-based than story-based this time. I'm still telling the story of what it's like coming out of high school, not going to college and my experience with LSD. The new music that I started listening to has got a really heavy Acid Jazz base to it. It's just really good songs; it's a collection of great songs, which is exactly what #10Day is. But it's more of just a really good album than a story."
Release
Acid Rap was released as a mixtape and not an album. Bennett said, "One of my biggest talents is performing live." This gave him the idea to make his money by selling merchandise and performing live. Along with these reasons he also chose to release his music as a mixtape because he wanted to create free music. More recently he has also rapped about his hatred for record labels in one of his more recent songs, No Problem. Bennett being unsigned also gives him the ability to collaborate with any artists of his choosing. Collaboration was a main factor in the production of Acid Rap and that is another reason why Bennett decided to remain unsigned.
On June 28, 2019, Bennett officially released the mixtape onto streaming services along with his prior mixtape 10 Day. The track "Juice" didn't have its sample cleared and is instead replaced by a 30-second voice memo by Bennett.