"Chant" is a song by American rapper

Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist rele ...

and Australian singer

Tones and I Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her breakout single "Dance Monkey", which reached number one in over 30 countries including her home country ...

, released on July 22, 2022 as the lead single from the former's third solo studio album ''

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...

'' (2023). It was produced by Budo and Macklemore.

Background

Macklemore told ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', "'Chant' is about the human spirit, it's about resilience, it's about facing fear, pushing through, and reminding yourself and the world who you really are." In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', he said "This song is a bit of a rebirth. I wanted to challenge myself, get through moments of

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

, and capture the spirit of what it's like to overcome something, push through it, and get up the next day and do it again." Macklemore started teasing the song on July 6, 2022, posting the cover art on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. He shared snippets of the song via

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

and Instagram before finally releasing it on July 22.

Composition

"Chant" is a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

-inflected song over a piano instrumental. Lyrically, Macklemore reflects on key moments in his past, including his near-fatal drug overdose in 2020, and his deepest insecurities, while insisting he will not retire from rapping. In the chorus, Tones and I sings about fighting, rising up and not dying. From there, the instrumental uses a thumping beat with a piano riff. In addition, Macklemore discusses bringing

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

back to the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and highlights his music teaching program, the Residency.

Music video

The music video was co-directed by Macklemore and Jake Magraw, and released alongside the single. It begins with Macklemore rising out of a misty lake, and features cameos from NBA stars

Jamal Crawford Aaron Jamal Crawford (born March 20, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2000 to 2020. Nicknamed "J-Crossover", he is regarded as one of the best ball handlers in ...

and Isaiah Thomas.

Charts

References

{{Tones and I 2022 singles 2022 songs Macklemore songs Tones and I songs Song recordings produced by Budo (musician) Songs written by Budo (musician) Songs written by Macklemore