Vince Staples - Vince Staples
Intro:
Vince Staples is a prolific rapper that standouts among the rest of his 2010’s peers. I loved his debut project Summertime ‘06, and since then he’s continued to show lots of creativity. It’s been a while since he’s dropped a full project, so fans were quite eager for this new release. This is also the second time he’s done in-depth work with the famous producer Kenny Beats. We’ll now see if Vince’s return lives up to its expectations.
Strengths:
Vince appears to be reminiscing on his old dangerous life in Long Beach, CA. Some of his old tendencies, instincts & fears still follow him, despite being a successful rapper in the present (like keeping a gun on him at all times). The album is full of lyrics about paranoia, mistrust & anxiety. These are also some of the best lines Vince has rapped in his entire career, and it sounds like he has something to prove:
“But Lil Wayne Carter what I call my .38”
The album is very short, sweet & straight to the point. There is one standalone feature from Foushee; who compliments Vince extremely well on their collaboration. His flows here are very fitting, captivating, and fun to rap along to. The delivery of Vince Staples is a lot more tame & laidback than usual.
There aren’t too many high energy moments, and the few times he gets melodic sound lovely (Ex: Are You With That). This is probably due to the Kenny Beats production. The beats on this album feature very smooth vintage vocal samples, and very tight well-sequenced drums. It’s a chill, light & airy West Coast soundscape that contrasts Vince’s subject matter beautifully; yet still has a nice bounce in it’s instrumentals.
Weaknesses:
There aren’t really that many dull moments or negative takeaways. A lot of what I’m going to address in this section can be seen more as minor critiques. For example, there definitely could’ve been 1 or 2 more tracks (specifically some more uptempo cuts). The album ending with the song “Mhm” feels a little awkward, since it’s the most energetic cut.
His laidback delivery could bore certain listeners, alongside the consistent chill vibe from Kenny’s beats. In addition, I think it makes certain lines go under-noticed & the lack of sticky choruses (with some exceptions) really does not help this at all.
Overall:
Despite small critiques, Vince Staples definitely delivered some quality music with this new album. I’d also say that this is probably my new favorite album of his, and it feels like his most consistent body of work yet. Kenny Beats does an amazing job handling Vince’s music, and I hope that they continue to do even more work throughout the years. Thank you all for reading and be sure to listen to the project yourself with the link below.
