Chance the Rapper Tells a Short Tale in ‘A Bar About a Bar’

Chance the Rapper shares a short tale in “A Bar About a Bar.” The accompanying new self-directed video features fellow Chicago rapper Vic Mensa and Chicago-based painter Nikko Washington.

The clip opens on Chance and Mensa working on a writing exercise. Mensa asks, “What you got?” Chance launches into the opening verse with, “I got a bar about a bar/It’s not a joke, it’s just a bar” as he unfurls the tale that takes him, naturally, to a bar. Meanwhile, Washington paints in the background, inspired by the story. The video also teases an upcoming collaboration with Joey Bada$$ called “The Highs and the Lows”; they’re seen on a boat.

Washington created the single’s artwork, which is on display this week through Sunday at the Art Institute of Chicago. According to a release, the artwork was inspired by “Abar, the First Black Superman’s unorthodox, Afro-futuristic, and surrealist depiction of racial inequality, racial integration, and classism in the suburbs of white America.”

The new video’s concept has a similar “interdisciplinary art piece” approach Chance employed for “Child of God” featuring Moses Sumney. The song included the work of Gabonese visual artist Naïla Opiangah. The clip follows Chance and Mensa’s recent team-up for “Wraith (Writing Exercise #3).”