Chance The Rapper, a young artist out of Chicago, has released a new mixtape that’s pretty good and “soulful”. It’s fun to listen to and there are a few really high points that make the listener feel good, I think. He is a good rapper, in technical terms. I think he is supposed to be “psychedelic” but listenable. Inoffensive/un-weird enough to listen to around a group of people with mainstream-y tastes but cool enough (for now, at least), to be proud of liking him.
The intro song Good Ass Intro has about 12 instances of Chance pronouncing the rhotic coda consonant {looser, another, brother, mother, glitter, clutter, colour, baller, butter, stainer, studded, mater) . In other words, pronouncing the ‘r’ in words that end with ‘r’. Not pronouncing the coda (last consonant) ‘r’ is something common to Non-Rhotic accents. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a non-rhotic accent.
Like other non-rhotic varieties, the rhotic consonant /r/ is usually dropped when not followed by a vowel;
Non-Rhotic accents are generally stigmatized and speakers ’embarrassed’ of it will converge to Standard English via pronouncing the ‘r’. Unlike G-Dropping rates, which has lots of good literature, I have no what is a common ‘R-Drop’ rate for AAVE is or what it’s relation to socioeconomic conditions are. There are some unsubstantiated theories about non-rhotic consonants re: class warfare.
Another event that may have influenced Southern dialectical patterns, particularly desegregation, which was accompanied by turmoil in the South from the 1950s through the 1970s. The civil rights struggle seems to have caused both African Americans and southern Whites to stigmatize linguistic variables associated with the other group.
Later on in the mixtape, Chance mentions that he hates Fox News and that Matt Lauer isn’t properly reporting the problems in Chicago. Which is cool. And mirrors the sensibilities of the young rap fan with opinions on politics probably. But to me, even though they are technically sloppy, the other kids out of Chicago do a way better of job of capturing the desperation and chaos Matt Lauer isn’t reporting. Chance’s use of the rhotic consonant probably says a lot about his relationship to the stuff happening in Chicago, I think. It almost doesn’t matter that he is from there, at least musically. Seems like he is pretty amorphous geographically.
RapMETRICS 
I mean I think I agree with most of what you’re saying here, but I wouldn’t agree with the idea that Chance’s (relative) distance from the most violent parts of Chicago means he isn’t as qualified as some members of the ‘drill’ scene to talk about it. He has a different perspective, and while I don’t think he’s mature enough to make an all-encompassing comment that would hold up to scrutiny, his viewpoint still has value.
I don’t see how chances use of rhotic consonants says anything about his relationship to Chicago’s gang violence…it’s purely a stylistic thing. How many rappers out there use non rhotic language when they have no relationship to the type of background that would teach them that usage? A shit load…
I don’t see how chances use of rhotic consonants says anything about his relationship to Chicago’s gang violence…it’s purely a stylistic thing. How many rappers out there use non rhotic language when they have no relationship to the type of background that would teach them that usage? A shit load…