Vince Staples "Dark Times" (2024)

 

Dark Times had me reflect upon Vince's past. The bassy House and percussive Latino influences felt on Big Fish Theory and FM!, in retrospect, were exciting, fresh and distinct. Hard edged and gangster, yet fun and catchy too, a keenly crafted sound time has served well. In 2024, Staples arrives soft and subdued, his casual wordy raps sullen, ruminate on the pains of balancing fame friends and family among other hurts.

With glum spirit and dreary tone, he flows over slow burdensome beats. Downtrodden tunes drift by dreamy and haunting, utilizing soft hazy synths, shadowy pianos and ambiguous plucked melodies. Its musical themes and flavor lingers in the past. Echos of 90s Gangster Rap Funk influences linger among the jazzy soulful East Coast counterpart. Snappy percussion mostly shapes it to the current era of Hip Hop.

Vince offers a very honest expression, vulnerable, direct and tender, unambiguously sharing his troubled state of mind to be reflected through its moody instrumental direction. These songs feel individually crafted with intention and meaning in mind. Engulfing, yet when flirting with darkness, if the music doesn't offer reprisal and catharsis from that difficult mindset it can be encumbering upon the listener.

Sadly, that was my big takeaway from Dark Times, feeling Vince's troubles dragging down the mood. That's not to dunk on the record, its a fair piece of art but without moments for sunlight to peak through the clouds, it plays a downer. Impressive in its honesty, however I find myself unable to vibe with its brooding intensity right now.

Rating: 6/10

Vince Staples "Ramona Park Broke My Heart" (2022)

 

With a talkative tone and casual cadence, Vince returns on this forth outing spinning his introspective thoughts on a breezy laid back vibe. To say business as usual would understate the emotional weight and expressions from this insightful artists. Again, stories and perspectives are told through the personas he inhabits. Lacking the spark a new dimension can bring, the familiarity of his attitude and lyrics lets one swiftly fall into the easy groove the record presents. Its a slow riding, G-Funk inspired chill out where 808s and percussive beats pop low key and the instrumentals croon gently on the subdued, sleepy leaning vibes that drift by with an eerie lack of tension.

I'm not sure if its in contrast to the gravity of topics discussed in his lyrics as there is a lot of pride and warmth expressed where Vince often uses his words to peers into social ills and societal issues. His words make this record feel more personal than the tales of prior projects. His cadence, which at its sturdiest still seems casual, can slip into a breathy effortless slew of words that almost seems intentionally lazy. The vibe is spot on however! These dreamy toned down beats play right into his hand.

The result is a soothing lofty warmth that drifts by yet any attention given to his words reveals a deeper meaning. I love how he can wrap the most potent words into simple lines and expressions to emphasis a narrative. Its almost in rebellion to overworked rhymes and clever wordplay. Vince uses just a drop of poetry and the apt moments so effortlessly. Seemingly much of it plays of as train of thought, ringing of the thoughts directly but a little study often reveals something a little deeper. I do think some of the Ramona Park Broke My Heart's depth does hinge on its authenticity. Are these more personal tales? Either way, its a very easy to enjoy record.

Rating: 7/10

Vince Staples "Vince Staples" (2021)

 

What is the significance of a self title record? It tends to signal something of importance, often a debut naming or musical statement of intent. For Vince on his forth outing, its a reflection of self, affirming his artistic stride with a concise record. Its a lyrical ride reflecting his intellect, making mockery of braggadocio and show boating, while shining a light on the influences, pressures and hypocrisies of his upbringing and environment. Of course this is all wrapped up in controversy as he shifts the perspective from himself and packages the outlook in the crooked lines of ugly lines and verses. At twenty two minutes its another very concise album, same length as FM!. There is little room for anything that's not sharp and pointed. Its song titles often hint at an intersection between his characters and the reflection he shines on them.

These ten numbers run fast, no song surpassing the three minute mark. This flow gives power to its subdued instrumentals, led by sparse percussive beats. They rattle pacy, tight hi-hats and groove of the deep 808 kicks with sharp swift snare strikes between. Its all packaged with fast attack and minimal decay for quite the flat tonality, a bland aesthetic that masterfully resonates of its backing instruments and samples that bring in the flavor. It is as mentioned a subdued experience, a tricky chemistry to get right. Its cousin would be those classic G-Funk vibes yet a sleepy alternative, arriving with the bombast stripped out. The loops can linger on a couple of ambiguous elements, shy of potent melody and forging atmosphere through the obscurity of its dreamy arrangements. A lot of the record feels like a hazy memory, much to its charm.

Initially I found the record a little dull but that is the misleading nature of the beast. Its livelier beats get going from Taking Trips onwards, which would peak my attention. As Vince's lyrics set in, I found the keenest of his musings in the opening with some his critiques and perspectives coming back around again later on, always sharp though. On another level these songs play like flipped bangers with the essence of that ripped out. His steady and soft spoken word delivery a breeze to follow on these sleepy tracks. Giving attention to the craftiness of his lyrics, these lines could play like killer hooks yet its all played down into this style that suits him to well. Being a sucker for a little bombast and bravado its what this album does right that perhaps makes it a little harder to get stuck in my mind, however it does play like the kind of record to experience as one thing, because it lacks any weak points, a very clear vision well executed.

Rating: 7/10

Vince Staples "FM!" (2018)

Ive been keenly awaiting the next Vince Staples project. As a rapper he is a fair talent but on the instrumental front he is rocking a fresh sound that draws in some strong House and Dance music influences to Hip Hop. This newest record FM! has some interludes and snippets of a radio show that gloss a theme on top of stellar songs. At a mere twenty two minutes most the tracks are short and given the repetitive nature of lopped instrumentals this swift record whizzes by. It always ends too soon, leaving you wanting another immediate spin as its infectious beats linger in the mind.

At the surface, the beats took most my attention. Vince puts engaging hooks over the top and his rhymes are tight, often delivered with a slightly slurred swagger. It gives his flows a liquidity as his sentences ooze and the words sway to form an shapely cadence. His inflections are slightly nasal and the nature of his flow lets his lyrics gel with these keen beats. When he exaggerates the words they often morph into memorable hooks. Relay's "scanner and hammer" as "skinner and himmer" just works despite being skewed. Its all chemistry but digging deeper into his words theirs a lot of vivid lyricism skimmed down to a point. At times it can be a dark ride along.

These instrumentals by Kenny Beats pop! Tight snaps, claps and snares bounce and groove off sub bass kicks doubling as low end melodies, shifting through multiple pitches. Between them textured hi hats rattle in fast shuffles, spaced generously on stereo. The space often occupied by samples are a treat of quirky, synthetic spaced out melodies, often minimal, taking advantage of minimalism and the textures available. Its got the grit of the streets, yet can drift to the estranged and exotic. Of course these moods find their way to banging hooks too as Vince cries out to each of the sides "who bout that life" as the calls drift to death and darkness swiftly.

I adore this project. Its all about quality over quantity however its glossed over radio theme feels a distance to the meat of Vince's lyrics. Its interlude tracks are inconsequential and mediocre at best. They fluff up an extra couple of minutes and the Earl Sweatshirt hype track is an underwhelming twenty seconds. With Kanye, Pusha T and quite a few other artists releasing short projects this year it seems like a positive trend. I'm really glad Vince took this approach and the final track is a peach with Kehlani Parrish bringing powerful effeminate singing to the fold. Great record!

Favorite Tracks: Relay, Run The Bands, No Bleedin, Tweakin

Rating: 7/10

Vince Staples "Big Fish Theory" (2017)

It was only a while back that I was introduced to the young Compton rapper. Summertime '06 won me over so another album springing up so quickly Is a pleasant surprise. Big Fish takes of where Summertime left, working with the same producer Vince retains the distinct production style behind his rhymes, sub baselines crunch under tight shuffling hi hats and steady, cautious snare kick grooves. Where Summertime had a smoother tone with fragrant samples and a more "traditional" Hip Hop vibe, Big Fish takes a turn to new territory with strong influences from House and Electronic music that has much of the instrumentation used performed by an array of synthesized sounds.

 The album kicks off with "Crabs In The Bucket", if you removed Vince's voice from the track it would unrecognizable as a Hip Hop track, Its sweeping wind synths lead us into a smooth Dance groove with Kilo Kish laying down soft, echoing vocals over a climatic jiving baseline groove reminiscent of G-Funk. This tone follows through the record, many tracks would fall into another category if it wasn't for Vince's rhymes and that's the albums brilliance, Its abridged styles and created something of its own, a unique fusion that seems just right for this artist. The records tone has a rather cold and spacious quality, many of these crunking baselines and tight shuffling beats intersect with abstract electronic noises without an upfront melody. In response the baseline rhythms become a focal point of direction and Vince's often flat, leveled delivery reinforces the chilling tone. It works especially well when his lyrics go into darker regions.

With a handful of banging baselines and catchy hooks the album sets off fires in one instances and puts them out with its quirkier tracks that don't quite vibe the same. Not to say they are bad tracks but there is a note able difference despite a rather consistent tone. I like Big Fish Theory for its unique crossover between style two genres and much is to be merited for that success but it doesn't mean all the songs are automatically destined for greatness. With new territory comes new challenges and through the thirty six minutes I felt as if there was an imbalance between the quirky, rhythmically arranged synths and an opportunity for more dance laden melody and atmosphere, however that's just a matter of taste and unfortunately what started out as a really interesting album started to fade somewhat by the tenth listen or so as the overall picture of the record came into view. The songs just don't quite hold up and an overall direction is lacking, most notable on Alyssa that comes in with a long vocal snippet that has seemingly nothing to do with the rest of the record. The great ideas are scattered in here but they don't find their way to cohesion.

Favorite Tracks: Crabs In The Bucket, Love Can Be, 745, Bagbak, Rain Come Down

Rating: 6/10

Vince Staples "Summertime '06" (2015)

One of the best verses on Schoolboy Q's underwhelming "Blank Face LP" was the young Vince Staples who drops in mid verse, taking the mic from Q and sparkling with a slick flow of steady rhymes that build ceaselessly on top of one another without a moment for respite. The name caught my ear but it wasn't until a small viral craze took hold around Vince that I got caught in the hype. Unsurprisingly a video of a woman crying over the lyrical content "Hoes need abortions" only served as a platform of promotion for the rapper who I immediately dug, remembering him from the Schoolboy record. "Summertime '06" is Vince's debut record and a reference to the time he started rapping at the age of thirteen nine years earlier. Its technically a double record but with two sides at thirty minutes it plays side to side like a single experience.

As it often goes in Hip Hop music their are two sides in contention. Lets start with the beats, these are mostly dense atmospheric bangers, numbers that pair deep moody, at times, ambiguous layers of samples with crunching drums. With a lack of distinct focal melody much of the magic comes from how they character and fill the space between the drums and bass. The baselines on tracks like "Dopeman" are dominating, sounding menacingly sublime on a sub-woofer that can give volume to such low frequencies. Above them the drums rattle and shuffle away with a variety of pallets that often draw to a percussive, sometimes Latino, edge over traditional kick snare grooves. Together they lean towards the dark-side and flirt with low-fidelity and minimalism on tracks like "Surf". Its a refreshing set of instrumentals that set the stage for Vince to set himself aside from the crowd.

Staple's flow is a chemistry of contrasts, his voice monotone and off key, it gives an odd rigidity to an otherwise liquid flow that oozes from word to word in effortless waves of lines that feel like they have no start or end. Vince just keeps going and going with rarely a pause to catch his breath. Lyrically he's all about story and substance, there's barely a braggadocios or flamboyant moment of ego, he just knuckles down and sticks to the point, painting the picture of his life in a wild world. "Summertime" is a pleasant break to something different where Vince puts on a humble singing voice for a slower, dreamy song.

Watching interviews with him, its clear hes a bright and well articulated young man. A fair amount of that comes through in the music between some of the darker tales. There's no cheap tricks at work, in the beats or the rhymes. It strikes me as a real work of substance and vision with no filler that ill continue to enjoy for much time to come. A must hear for Hip Hop fans who want something progressive and fresh.

Favorite Tracks: Norf Norf, Loca, Dopeman, Jump Off The Roof, Summertime, 3230, Surf, Might Be Wrong

Rating: 7/10