Cocoa Butter Kisses by Chance the Rapper Lyrics Meaning – Exploring the Depths of Nostalgia and Addiction
Lyrics
I got burn holes in my hoodies, all my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stank
I got burn holes in my hoodies, all my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
Okie dokie, alky keep it lowkey like Thor lil bro
Or he’ll go blow the loudy, saudy of sour Saudi
Wiley up off peyote, wilding like that coyote
If I sip any Henny, my belly just might be outtie
Pull up inside a huggy, Starsky & Hutch a Dougie
I just opened up the pack, in an hour I’ll ash my lucky
Tonight she just yelling, “Fuck me”, two weeks she’ll be yelling fuck me
Used to like orange cassette tapes with Timmy, Tommy, and Chuckie
And Chuck E. Cheese’s pizzas, Jesus pieces, sing Jesus love me
Put Visine inside my eyes so my grandma would fucking hug me
Oh generation above me, I know you still remember me
My Afro look just like daddy’s, y’all taught me how to go hunting (blam!)
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stank
I got burn holes in my hoodies, all my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stank
I got burn holes in my hoodies, all my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I will
Smoke a little something but I don’t inhale, everywhere that I go, everywhere
They be asking hows it going, say the goings well, go figure, Victor’s light skinned
Jesus got me feeling like Colin Powell, all praise to the God, God knows
He’s a pro, he’s a pro like COINTEL, check, check mate, check me
Take me to the bedroom, let you know me well, I mean normally, you see
Norma Jean wouldn’t kick it with Farmer Phil, but these kids these days, they get so
High, burn trees, smoke chlorophyll, ’til they can’t feel shit, shit-faced
Faced it, fifteen hits on this L, elevated, train and the craziest
Thing, got me feeling like Lauryn Hill, miseducated, my dick delegated
Rap Bill Bellamy, they said I shoulda never made it, probably shoulda been dead or in jail
Deadbeat dad, enough of that jazz, asshole, absinthe up in that class
Are we there yet? Ice cubes in a bong, we’re brain dead, take a tug and then pass
I think we all addicted
Yeah, I think we all addicted
Really though, I think we all addicted (yah)
I think we addicted
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stank
I got burn holes in my memories, my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I think we all addicted
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stank
I got burn holes in my hoodies, all my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I miss my cocoa butter kisses (Twista)
I could make a flow, pitter patter with a patter pitter
Two seats used to be in a jalabiya and a kufi
Trying hard not to be addicted to a groupie
I ended up on an album cover in a Coogi
You see, I be still a god but a goofy
You be flowing about drugs and a uzi
That’s the new principle, sometimes I’mma be about some hoes
Sometimes I’mma wanna make a movie
And when it come to rapping fast, I’m the Higgs Boson
And though my style freakish
I could still break your body down to five pieces like I did voltron
Cause I’m addicted to the craft and I be off a OG
Know me, I’m the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the dope see
Never scared of mean spirits, methamphetamine lyrics
Cooler like I’m offa codeine, low key
Don’t be so judgmental, even though I’m reminiscing
If I don’t know what I miss is
Ima end up figuring out that it’s home
And my mother and my grandmother cocoa butter kisses
This is just a testament to the ones that raised me
The ones that I praise and I’m thanking
I need ’em but the chronic all up in my clothes
And I wanna get a hug, and I can’t cause I’m stanking
Never too old for a spanking, igh
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my momma think I stank
I got burn holes in my memories, my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I think we all addicted
Cigarettes on cigarettes, my mama think I stank
I got burn holes in my hoodies, all my homies think it’s dank
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
I miss my cocoa butter kisses
In the poetic landscape of hip-hop, ‘Cocoa Butter Kisses’ stands out as a lyrical masterpiece that encapsulates the tumultuous journey of growth, substance dependence, and the yearning for childhood innocence. Chance the Rapper weaves a fabric of resonant themes that strikes a chord with listeners, navigating through the smoke of retrospection to reveal a universal craving for simpler, purer times.
As the track unfolds, the verses delve into the complexities of familial relationships tarnished by the haze of addiction and the poignant nostalgia for lost sentiments, giving the song a sense of intimate confession that Chance meticulously lays bare over a backdrop of soulful rhythms. Let’s peel back the layers of this intricate composition and examine the deeper meanings that lie within its verses.
The Dichotomy of Growth and Loss
At its core, ‘Cocoa Butter Kisses’ grapples with the dichotomy of maturation and the consequential erosion of innocence. Chance employs the motif of ‘cigarettes on cigarettes’ to signify not just the grip of addiction, but also the alienation it causes. As the smoke clouds his relationships, particularly with his mother, its stench signifies the growing chasm between his present self and his bygone childhood—a past symbolized by the nurturing ‘cocoa butter kisses’ once received.
The poignant repetition of this sensory detail serves as an aching reminder of the warmth and comfort associated with a mother’s love and how it feels increasingly distant amidst the self-inflicted isolation of substance abuse. The rapper’s lament is a mosaic of personal regret and societal reflection, pointing to an innocence that’s not only personal but generational.
The Hidden Struggle With Substance Realities
While the chorus offers a sentimental hook, the verses plunge listeners deep into the tempestuous reality of Chance’s relationship with drugs. References to narcotics, such as ‘alky’ and ‘loudy’, contrast starkly with innocent recollections of ‘orange cassette tapes with Timmy, Tommy, and Chuckie,’ painting a vivid picture of a chasm between youthful joy and adult vices. Chance doesn’t glamorize his escapades but rather conveys a sense of entrapment within them, grappling with their transient pleasures and enduring pains.
This unvarnished introspection rips open the glamor often associated with hip-hop’s portrayal of drugs, instead laying bare the emptiness and longing they emanate. In seeking the solace of his grandmother’s embrace, depicted through ‘Visine inside my eyes’, Chance expresses an earnest desire to mask the effects of his lifestyle choices to reconnect with his familial roots, suggesting a latent struggle with the perception of his substance use.
The Cultural Collage and Multifaceted Identity
Chance’s narrative is not confined to his personal arc but extends into a tapestry of cultural references, ranging from religious iconography to contemporary politics. He intertwines these elements to illustrate a multifaceted identity formation, a coming of age that is both literal and metaphorical. The lyric ‘Jesus pieces, sing Jesus love me’ represents a spiritual grounding amid the chaos, tying the disparate pieces of his growth to an enduring cultural and religious foundation.
Furthermore, invoking figures like Lauryn Hill and Colin Powell, Chance positions himself as a multifarious character enmeshed in the complexity of African American heritage and its broader narratives. Through these nods, he connects the story of his struggle with a collective history, implicating the shared experiences of his community in his individual journey toward self-realization.
Nostalgic Echoes and Memorable Lines
‘I used to like orange cassette tapes with Timmy, Tommy, and Chuckie,’ Chance reminisces, invoking a potent childhood memory from the annals of ’90s nostalgia. It’s lines like these that are studded throughout the verses, creating a chorus of echoes from a past that is seen through the sepia-toned glasses of hindsight. Each metaphor, each reference, harks back to a simpler time when the complications of life were as distant as the stars in the skyline now obscured by the city’s smoldering lights.
Even more explicitly, ‘put Visine inside my eyes so my grandma would fucking hug me’ reverberates with the profound need for familial acceptance and the anguish of feeling that acceptance slip away. (Twista’s) couplet ‘Never too old for a spanking’ captures a desire to return to the fold and a recognition that despite life’s journey, the longing for home and the love that resides there never dissipates.
A Sonic Journey Back to ‘Cocoa Butter Kisses’
As the final notes of ‘Cocoa Butter Kisses’ ebb away, the listener is left contemplating a landscape of memories, not only those of Chance but also the imprints of their own childhoods that the song evokes. It’s a testament to Chance’s lyrical mastery that he can guide us through his stream of consciousness without losing us in the rapids of his introspection. The beats, lyrical flow, and chorus harmonies coalesce into a singular experience that gently connects us with the essence—the cocoa butter kisses—of our collective lost innocence.
Ultimately, ‘Cocoa Butter Kisses’ is as much an exploration of Chance’s interior life as it is a universal siren calling us back to the fundamentals of human connection. In its unflinching candidness and lyrical prowess, it serves as a compelling chronicle of the struggle against the tide of time, the inextinguishable human yearning for the past, and the hard-fought battle to emerge from the folds of vice with the soul intact.
