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Songs We Love

Songs we love: donnie trumpet & the social experiment, 'familiar'.

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Chance The Rapper's band, Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, just released a new album called Surf . Christopher Polk/Getty Images hide caption

Chance The Rapper's band, Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, just released a new album called Surf .

Picking one song from Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment's ebullient new album to talk about is no easy task. Surf is so layered, so textured and such a vibrant body of work that singling out one song feels almost like you're not doing the entire album justice.

The group consists of Donnie Trumpet, a.k.a. Nico Segal, trumpeter, bandleader, producer and sometimes percussionist; keyboardist and producer Peter "Peter Cottontale" Wilkins; producer and engineer Nate Fox; drummer Greg "Stix" Landfair Jr.; and, most famously, Chancellor " Chance The Rapper " Bennett. Surf is an expansive group effort that combines live instrumentation and drum machines — as well as sung, rapped and sing-rapped vocals — into a lush, nearly hour-long musical experience in which Donnie's trumpet provides the linchpin. And, though it features the talents of Busta Rhymes, Big Sean and, of course, Chance, Surf is only a rap album in the loosest sense. On iTunes, it's categorized as "pop." In this instance, that just means music that's intended to have broad, genre-blurring appeal. Surf is definitely pop, but more precisely a rap-, neo-soul- and jazz-inflected version of it.

Yes, it's hard to pick a favorite on a fun record that features surprise appearances from Janelle Monae and newcomer D.R.A.M., but today "Familiar" is the one that's doing it for me. In the song, we find Chance, alongside King Louie and Migos' Quavo, addressing the timeworn topic of groupies. A rap cliche, for sure, but their approach here is comical enough to make a cynical rap fan forget just how familiar the subject matter is.

"Familiar" is their way of saying, "We've seen your kind before, you're not original" to those who would assume that good looks are enough to impress this discerning trio. For his verse, Chance uses reincarnation as a metaphor in his dismissal of superficiality: "We met in a life where we were both cats / Our owners were neighbors, have fun with that / What's funnier is yours had eight different cats / The same shade of black and I'm blind as a bat."

And, while Chance gets abstract, fellow Chicagoan King Louie gets personal, bringing family into the fray: "If your mama say you special then your mama ain't the truest / With her lyin' ass / With her fine ass / With her giant ass / She regular, too." Perhaps the most surprising guest appearance comes from Quavo, whom we're more accustomed to hearing over the synth and piano trap sounds of producers Zaytoven and Metroboomin. Instead, in "Familiar" we get his sing-song warble over muted horn riffs and handclaps, as he recognizes all-too-familiar faces from video shoots. Like the album as a whole, it's counter-intuitively charming. Looks like the Social Experiment is a success.

The self-released Surf is available now, for free download.

• Chance the Rapper

Surf is the long-awaited collaboration between the unbilled Chance the Rapper, his band The Social Experiment, and musical ally Donnie Trumpet (a.k.a. Nico Segal). Chance gets his time to shine, spitting acrobatic rhymes throughout, but clearly this is a team effort focused on moving minds and butts. Flecks of big-band instrumentation lend sparkle, while folks like Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, and Big Sean provide cameos. The vibe is reminiscent of Native Tongues or Soulquarians, a positive space to submit to creative freedom and unpredictable flow, just like the ocean itself.

May 29, 2015 16 Songs, 51 minutes ℗ 2015 Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment

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Chance the Rapper, Donnie Trumpet Drop Social Experiment Album Surf for Free

Chance the Rapper  is in a band called the Social Experiment, which features Chance, Donnie Trumpet (the alias of Nico Segal), Peter Cottontale, and Nate Fox. Their long-teased new album  Surf , credited to Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment, is out right now on iTunes. Grab it here .

Chance has called  Surf  "the first Social Experiment project" rather than a proper Chance the Rapper release. In the group's Fader cover story , Chance said " Surf  is Nico's project."

As Spin reports, the record features Raury, J. Cole, Big Sean, Jeremih, BJ the Chicago Kid, Busta Rhymes, Janelle Monáe, B.o.B., Noname Gypsy, Francis Starlite of Francis and the Lights, Jamila Woods, Erykah Badu, and others.

01 Miracle 02 Slip Slide 03 Warm Enough 04 Nothing Came To Me 05 Wanna Be Cool 06 Windows 07 Caretaker 08 Just Wait 09 Familiar 10 SmthnthtIwnt 11 Go 12 Questions 13 Something Came To Me 14 Rememory 15 Sunday Candy 16 Pass The Vibes

Below, watch "Nothing Came To Me", a short starring Cara Delevingne and soundtracked by the Social Experiment, as well as the "Sunday Candy" video.

Here's the video for "Sunday Candy":

"Nothing Came To Me": [#video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/i3vPr7p7uWs]||||||

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