Stephen Colbert wows Chance The Rapper, remembers Chance's lyrics better than Chance
Stephen Colbert—in casual wear from his home den—interviewed fellow self-quarantining family man Chance The Rapper on The Late Show’s all-video-chat current format on Monday. Chance, from his Chicago condo, commiserated with Colbert about dad stuff (putting together a kids bicycle is no joke, people), how they’re coping with all the unaccustomed dad-time during the current coronavirus lockdown (“They’re small but relentless opponents,” Colbert noted of children in general), and Chance’s new gig hosting the Quibi revival of celebrity prank institution Punk’d. While our own Sam Barsanti gives the three-time Grammy-winner mostly high marks for shepherding many of his personal and professional pals through hidden camera shenanigans and the occasional mock gorilla attack, noted nice guy Chance admitted to some guilt over, say, convincing one famous young victim that her new home has been irretrievably infested with mutant rats. He also said that, despite producers’ plans, he’s not pranking Dwayne Johnson anytime soon, for understandable safety reasons.
Speaking of safety, the pair also bonded over their frustration at not being able to visit with their elderly relatives, thanks to an abundance of socially distant caution, although Chance shared the mixed blessing that his beloved grandmother has gotten heavily into Instagram. (Honestly, your grandmother sending you “crazy Christian memes” every five minutes sounds like it’d be amusing, for about fifteen minutes.) Regardless, Colbert told Chance that he knew how much his grandma meant to him, both from their conversations, and from the warmly glowing lyrics of songs like “Sunday Candy.” Or should we say Colbert sang it, as he surprised his guest by busting out a truly impressive few grandma-centric verses from the song (from Chance’s album with Donnie Trumpet’s The Social Experiment).
Now, could you suspect that Colbert could have memorized the rhymes (starting at the 8-minute mark in the video) specifically to impress Chance in advance of their interview? Sure, if you want to be that guy. But the actual moment played more like sincere admiration from one grandma-loving fan to a grandma-loving artist, with Colbert’s nimbly smiling recitation flowing like fondly internalized appreciation, rather than rote memorization. Even when he momentarily stumbled over the verse “pan fried, sun dried/South side, and beat the devil by a landslide,” Colbert had Chance knocked back on his heels in amused admiration, the rapper asking the TV host, “How do you know the lyrics better than me right now?” Grandmas inspire, Chance. You know that.