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Chance The Rapper's 'Magnificent' Mystery Event, Revealed

By Carrie Eidson in News on May 22, 2016 5:13PM

If you're a fan of Chance the Rapper, you may have spent the last few days anxiously trying to solve the mystery behind the mysterious Magnificent Coloring World. The event was cryptically announced on the artist's Twitter page Wednesday night, sending fans into a ticket buying frenzy without even knowing where—or what—the event was.

Since the release of the rapper's third mixtape, Coloring Book, on May 12, Chance fever has been taking Chicago by storm. The Chatham native's album (our review is here), which is available through Apple Music, features big names like Kanye West, Future and Justin Bieber, as well as Chicago artists and previous Chance collaborators, including Donnie Trumpet, NoName Gypsy and Jamila Woods. Coloring Book is a featured album on iTunes and is expected to chart on the Billboard 200 from streams alone.

Just days after the album was released, Chance tweeted that his hometown would be in for a surprise this weekend, saying only, "Dear Chicago, I have something special for you this Saturday, not what you think it is."



A couple hours later, Chance tweeted a link to a new event page on his website along with an enigmatic message to his followers:





In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, fans descended on ChanceRaps.com to snatch up tickets to four mystery events held Saturday, May 21. With tickets priced around $40 for the three all-ages options and $60 for one 21+ offering, Magnificent Coloring World sold out in less than two hours, despite no one knowing what to expect.





Naturally, theories ran rampant. Was Chance hosting a series of live performances? Would Kanye be there? Was Magnificent Coloring World the kickoff of a new tour? A music video shoot? An art installation? With no more information from Chance, fans were left guessing.





According to reports on Twitter, ticket holders finally received new information on Friday night in the form of a secret meetup location, and the request from Chance's team not to share the address on social media. The next day, attendees, including Wall Street Journal reporter John Jurgensen, met up at a local school. From there, in a twist right out of a PBS cartoon, they were instructed to climb aboard school buses that would carry them to the next mysterious location.




As Rolling Stone reported, the ride over was like a childhood field trip. Attendees anxiously chatted, unaware of where they were going.






Fifteen minutes later, the buses arrived at the Magnificent Coloring World secret location: Goose Island Brewery. From there, the crowd was ushered inside where they were met with a dark room, filled with smoke from a fog machine.

"Blessings," a song from Coloring Book, was pumped through speakers in the room. Fans sang along as a projection screen displayed images of Chance alongside scenes from films including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Tim Burton's Batman. The short film concluded with the message, "Are you ready?" before the screen parted for the big reveal.





Behind the curtain attendees were met with blinking lights, music, tables covered in crayons and paper, a bouncy house and carnival-style stands and marquees. Staff handed out free ring pops, fruit roll-ups and kiwi Mistic against a backdrop of mock-up sets from Chance music videos, including Sunday Candy.




As the attendees explored the space, the true nature of Magnificent Coloring World became clear: Chance had created a fun house-like interactive listening party that invited strangers to become friends and adults to play like children. As Coloring Book blasted through the speakers, attendees danced and sang along while playing oversized Chess, coloring on the walls, watching dancers and interacting with one very spirited Chicago bulls mascot.

After an hour or so in the carnival, a choir came out to sing "Blessings" as fans cheered. And during at least one performance, Chance appeared on scaffolding above the choir to wave to fans. After the choir sang, attendees were ushered back onto the buses to return to the non-Coloring World.




Though some social media users expressed disappointment that the event did not include a live performance from Chance, and earlier attendees bemoaned not seeing the artist walking around the event, most attendees reported a favorable and nostalgic experience. And an observant few even shared a secret about Benny the Bull.





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