Review: Chance the Rapper Pulls Off a Remarkable Return to Form

When Chance the Rapper announced the release of his first album in six years, the long-gestating Star Line , one couldn’t help but wonder if the 32-year-old Chicago rapper and singer who tasted superstardom during the sunset of the Obama administration had anything interesting left to offer, much less music that’s relevant. Back in those heady Coloring Book days, Chance announced himself on “Blessings” as “Kanye’s best prodigy,” and proved it by powering one of West’s finest tracks, “Ultralight Beam,” while scoring major Billboard chart hits alongside Lil Wayne (“No Problem”) as well as DJ Khaled (Khaled’s “I’m the One” and “No Brainer”) and Justin Bieber (“Holy”). He studiously resuscitated the gospel flourishes of West’s The College Dropout breakthrough, then filtered them