It looks like the long-promised collaborative record between Childish Gambino and Chance The Rapper might soon see the light of day.
Chance posted a photo of the pair on Instagram, with the caption: “Hawaii then LA, back to work. #roscoeswetsuit” – which has led to mass speculation that the two are again working together.
The pair share a long history. In 2012, coming off the back of his critically-maligned album Camp, Childish Gambino released the harder-hitting Royalty mixtape, which featured Chance on the song ‘They Don’t Like Me’. Chance was only one mixtape into his career at this point, so the exposure was a big deal for him.
Gambino also took him on tour, and jumped on Chance’s follow up mixtape Acid Rap, featuring on the bouncy ‘Favourite Song’. Donald Glover (read:Gambino) released an experiemental short film, ‘Clapping For The Wrong Reasons’, which featured Chance and showcased the pair’s easy chemistry – and Chance’s terrible Connect 4 skills.
The verse surfaced in June, 2014, during a joint appearance at the Governor’s Ball, where Chance performed it for the first time. After this, Gambino tweeted: “Now that Chance finally released his verse on “Worst Guys,” maybe he can hurry up and finish the rest of our EP. #hinthint.”
This was the first hint of a collaborative record, and not surprisingly, people were excited. Then, radio silence.
Most recently, during a Reddit AMA, Chance was asked whether the fabled album/EP/mixtape still exists, to which he replied “Yes.”
Then there is the curious #roscoeswetsuit hashtag, which is a red herring of sorts that Glover came up with in 2013.
He featured it in a script that accompanied his Because The Internet album, and Glover himself tweeted it out numerous times around then, also retweeting those who tweeted it. The phrase also appears in the intro to his STN MTN mixtape, where he fantasises about “selling ten million copies of his newest album, Roscoe’s Wetsuit, in one week.” Could Roscoe’s Wetsuit be the name of this project?
If there are still plans to release a record – in whatever form – now would be the perfect time to do so. Chance has had an incredible 2016, with the success of his Coloring Book mixtape, his much vaulted late night appearances, and his burgeoning friendship with Obama, while Gambino (read: Glover) just released one of the best albums of 2016, made the critical darling ‘Atlanta’ (one of the best TV shows of 2016), and continues to forge out his eclectic career based on no prior road-map known in the entertainment industry.
When, or if, this record comes out, it will be a long time coming – but so perfectly-timed.
