Miles Chancellor’s recent release, MADMAN, is a sprawling 27-song album — the kind of length that feels almost defiant in an age of quick singles and short attention spans. The Philadelphia legend has never shied away from ambition, and this project carries that spirit forward.
The surprising thing is how well it works. The tracks cut into one another, shifting without clear borders. Beats morph, voices bend, features dissolve, and production turns sharply within the span of a single track. Rather than feeling bloated, the album feels immersive — held together by Miles’ versatility. While he’s explored R&B in the past and proved he can deliver in that lane, here he leans into rap without leaving melody behind. His ability to move fluidly between modes gives the album its range, and features from Kur, Benyeji, Rodie Senpai, Ruffin, Perseu$, Precisely William, DJ SHAD, and Nira J the Hood Angel blend blend seamlessly into the larger world of MADMAN.
But then comes the bigger question: why? Why take on something this massive when most artists are trimming their projects to half the size? Here, Miles’ own framing gives clarity. He’s called it an “ADHD album,” created compulsively and layered without restraint. It’s an honest reflection of how he makes music — scattered, unpredictable, and deeply personal.
That honesty carried through the process itself. Miles says he went through 11 or 12 different iterations of the project before landing on the final version. When asked whether those revisions were about worrying how it would be received or about curating the flow for himself, his answer leaned toward the latter. This wasn’t about chasing approval. It was about building something he could stand behind, a time capsule that captured his creative state in full. “No team under the sun would approve that decision,” he said, “and that’s exactly why I had to.”
So is Miles Chancellor really a madman for releasing a 27-song album? Maybe in the sense that he creates compulsively, revising and reworking until the picture feels right. But the truth is that the madness is inseparable from the method. For him, it isn’t about playing by the rules or bending to expectations. It’s about making something that lasts — even if it takes 27 tracks to get there.
Stream MADMAN in full here and experience all 27 tracks for yourself.
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