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His longtime collaborator, Brandon Breaux, made the cover art.
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Six years. That’s how long Chance the Rapper has been away from full-length storytelling. But time away hasn’t dulled his edge. With ‘Star Line’, he returns sharper, bolder, and more dialled into purpose than ever—an evolution painted in soul, wrapped in diaspora, and embedded with revolutionary tech.
Created with longtime sonic chemist DexLvL, Star Line doesn’t just reflect where Chance has been—it defines who he’s become. Travelling through Ghanaian coastlines, Jamaican hills, and global art fairs, Chance’s journey echoes Marcus Garvey’s Pan-African vision: building community, commerce, and culture for Black people everywhere. Still, this isn’t escapism. It’s grounded in the unshakable soil of Chicago and his unique relationship with Black identity—something Chance has never commodified but rather cultivated with care.
Visually, that cultivation extends through Brandon Breaux, who once again links arms with Chance to design the album’s artwork. The collaboration—spanning over a decade—has birthed an iconic visual canon. Together, they’ve never needed industry approval. They’ve always been too busy building their language—unapologetically Black, imaginatively free.
Then there’s the innovation. ‘Star Line’ is the first album with an NFC-enabled CD that taps into Bluetooth speakers. Yes, you tap the CD and it plays. That’s the kind of Black futurism Chance is investing in—albums as living artefacts, merch with embedded meaning. The merch drop via starlinegallery.co includes these NFC-enabled CDs and more—each item infused with unlockable content.
The album’s lead single, ‘Tree’ featuring Lil Wayne and Smino, flips India.Arie’s ‘Video’ into a new-age anthem of liberation. Cannabis, here, isn’t stigmatised. It’s power. The self-directed video, set in a Black women-owned dispensary, imagines a future where cultivation equals sovereignty—where Black women run the farm and the fortune.
This isn’t just music. It’s movement. And ‘Star Line’ is the vessel. ‘Star Line’ will hit all digital retailers on August 15.
