If we're being honest with ourselves, "Ultralight Beam" is one of the best songs of the year so far—let alone one of the finest points in Kanye West's ouvre, and among the greatest ever introductions to an album. You don't even need to be paying attention for it to swoop beneath you and elevate your mood and soul into realms hitherto unexplored. Incidentally, Kanye is barely on the track. He asks for a few blessings, then disappears. On top of a gospel choir, the key moments come from a holy trinity of: a toddler praising the Lord, Kirk Franklin, and Chance the Rapper—who manages to run through the entire spectrum of human emotion in a single verse.As one of the most celebrated moments on The Life of Pablo, the track, arguably, belongs to Chance. He performed it solo at his show in Raleigh, North Carolina, last night, and it's amazing. Watch him smash through his verse like the delightful professional he is:
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