Album Review : Vince Staples (2021)
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Hip-hop has changed tremendously over the last two decades. The advent of Eminem, Kanye West and trap opened up a genre that was mostly perceived like the reflection of a certain socioeconomic reality prior to that. In other words, the genre became mainstream. It also became somewhat alienated from its angry, political origins. Not many young rappers can bridge the gap between both worlds, but Vince Staples already showed he could.
On his new record, he reconciles G-Funk and trap with a melancholic hybrid that is bound to shithouse conventions.
This album isn’t really what I would’ve expected from Vince Staples. This is a weird thing to say, because he’s been low-key experimental for most of his career and he’s shows a capacity to elude expectations and redefine himself before on albums like Prima Donna and Big Fish Theory. But he’s always been a smart, angry young man at his core and the music that reflects that has always been his most successful. Nothing could’ve prepared us for such an intimate record.
A lot has been said about the Kenny Beats production on this album, but it’s very smooth and subdued. It leaves a lot of place for Vince himself to make it into something of his own. The best example and perhaps my favorite song on the record is Take Me Home, where Vince raps about memories, regrets and the important place the past is taking in his life. It’s a beautiful, melancholic rap song about trying to get away from the things that shaped you.
The lead single Law of Averages is another pleasant surprise with the weird, vaporwave-like vocals in the mix exploring the liminal space between Vince’s interiority and upbringing. The Shining is another standout on the record with its powerful, heartbreaking chorus: We dying broke or live with broken hearts, says Vince, alluding to the sacrifices and the selfishness required to make your place in the world. It’s emotionally brutal, yet graceful and proper.
These three songs were the highlights of the album for me. I’m not gonna lie, it felt somewhat voyeuristic to listen to, like I was traveling through Vince’s private thoughts. It’s a really courageous, iconoclast move to allow yourself to be vulnerable without using gimmicks or playing games, but the packaging is sometimes weirdly alien to what make Vince so fun and empowering. Not that he should give a shit. Being unpredictable also makes him quite interesting.
Vince Staples is only 22 minutes long, but it really has a good understanding of what it is and what it has to offer. I was surprised to hear interludes delivered like voicemails throughout the album. It really layers the experience in its own way, like you’re walking through Vince’s memories. This album feels haunted in the best possible way. Once again, not exacly vaporwave but conceptually similar? On a cerebral level it’s a very intriguing, mysterious album to listen to.
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It’s hard to know where this album fits on the spectrum of Vince Staples’ career. It’s not bad at all, but it doesn’t have the intoxicating quality of an FM! or a Summertime 06'. It feels very logical in the evolution of the young rapper and yet it was impossible to predict. It has a meditative, almost dreamlike quality to it. It’s a very good summer record if you’re in a reflexive mood and it displays another side of a fascinating, complicated young man. I dug it.
