On ‘The Big Day,’ Chance the Rapper compares himself to Eagles fans. Is he back in championship form?

Chance the Rapper

The Big Day

(Self released ** ½)

It’s disingenuous for Chance the Rapper to hype The Big Day as his “debut album.” His three previous full- length efforts — 2012’s 10 Day, 2013’s great leap forward Acid Rap, and 2016’s gospel-rap tour de force Coloring Book — were albums, in point of fact, though they were marketed as mixtapes.

What’s concerning about The Big Day is that it doesn’t hold together as as a cohesive piece of music as well as his previous work. That’s partly because at 70-plus minutes, it’s too long. Chance is trying too hard to be all things to all people. The Big Day finds him going toe-to-toe with Nicki Minaj on two songs, reaching out to an adult alternative demo with Randy Newman (!) and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie, and courting teenyboppers with Shawn Mendes.

That’s not to say there’s not lots of good stuff on The Big Day, which mostly concerns the rapper’s marriage to Kirsten Corley in March. John Legend helps kick off the celebration with a nice feature on the opening “All Day Long," and Chance also gives himself time to ruminate over what took him so long to tie the knot in “We Go High.” That song that echoes Michelle Obama, name-drops Fran Drescher and Wu-Tang rapper U-God and — believe it or not — draws an analogy between himself and Philadelphia Eagles fans aiming to return to the Super Bowl. (The couplet in question, about the size of a wedding ring, and his need to return to championship form: “Big hands for my ring, I’m a need a Pringles can / I just want the shine back, like an Eagles fan.”)

The Big Day has been knocked because it’s so darn happy, and it’s hard to draw listeners in with songs that are all about how pleased as punch you are. True enough, but not the whole story. Chance has always been a uniquely compelling figure in hip hop because, along with being a top-notch rhymer and thinker, he’s unafraid to be joyful. And there are many points on the The Big Day where his enthusiasm is infectious. The trouble is, there’s not enough of them to get us through the uninspired tracks like “Found A Good One (Single No More)” that drag out The Big Day, like a never-ending wedding party that keeps the guests captive after it’s past time to go home.

Chance the Rapper: The Big Day tour plays the Wells Fargo Center 3601 S. Broad St. at 7 p.m. on Friday Oct. 4. Info at 215-336-3600. wellsfargocenter.com.

Maxo Kream

Brandon Banks

(Big Persona/88 Classic/RCA ***½)

Rap’s always peaking anew but even Kendrick Lamar doesn’t fill the storytelling void. That leaves the niche wide open for Houston’s Maxo Kream, whose instantly recognizable, highly enunciated flow is slightly indebted to Big Boi but is very much his own. Last year’s excellent Punken established his gifts (start with “Grannies”) and Brandon Banks’ three highlights stand taller than anything else his name’s on.

First and foremost is the jaw-dropping, five-minute opener “Meet Again,” a letter to incarcerated friends both “going in” and “coming out,” then the surefire summer jam “She Live,” a duet with the lubricious Megan Thee Stallion, and just before the close, the tender family bio “Dairy Ashford Bastard” (“Sometimes I feel just like a bastard even though I know my pops”). The remaining 37 minutes are strong enough, rounded out by adaptations like Kevin Gates-style melodies over “Mask Off”-indebted flute (“Change”), and a glinty space-out with Travis Scott (“The Relays”). But if the rest was up to the standard of those three meteorites, it would be the best hip hop of 2019. —Dan Weiss

Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana

Tall, Dark and Handsome

(Thirty Tigers ***½)

“News travels fast when somethin’ good comes around,” Delbert McClinton sings over the horn-stoked R&B of his new album’s first track. In this case, it’s the imminent arrival of a master showman: “Heatin’ things up and coolin’ things down / Mr. Smith is back in town.”

That sure sounds a lot like McClinton himself, who decades ago forged his enduring and indelible blend of rock, blues, country, and soul and at 78 remains as sharp as ever. On Tall, Dark and Handsome, the Nashville-based Texas native shows he can still heat things up with roadhouse romps like “Mr. Smith,” “Loudmouth,” and “Down in Mexico.” And he also cools things down, with the likes of the jazzy hipster tale “Ruby and Jules” and the aching “Temporarily Insane,” his frayed drawl adding poignancy to the ballad. Holding it all together is the vivid, streetwise character he brings to all these original numbers.

As a result, you might find another line from “Mr. Smith” applies: “When the band tried to stop/ The people were yelling for more.” — Nick Cristiano