Vince Staples albums
Vince Staples is one of the better rappers to emerge in the 2010s. You have to love his earnest nature while also being super depressing, as the atmosphere is very central and focused on himself as if every song he is expelling his demons. The first four years of Staples career (2014-2018) resulted in some of the best Hip hop ever created and one of its most exciting paradigm shifts. He constantly contributed to other people’s notable works, and movie soundtracks (Creed franchise, Black Panther, Pokemon, to name a few). Staples managed to take his view on life- supremely pessimistic towards anything and everything- and make it into a music everyone can understand. I have seen him live, he is typically alone and magnetic on stage.
At the time of writing this, he has four notable EP’s as well as four notable full albums- sometimes its blurry which is which, but I count EP’s generally as anything under 30 minutes.
Best Album:
Big Fish Theory or Prima Donna EP
Biggest Influences:
Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Scarface, Odd Future, 2Pac, Outkast, Al Green
Albums Chronologically:
2015 - 87% - Summertime ’06
2017- 95% - Big fish Theory
2022 - 72% - Ramona Park Broke My Heart
2024 - 86% - Dark Times
EP’s
2014 – 84% - Hell Can Wait
2016 – 98% - Big Time
2018 – 81% - FM!
2021 – 65% - Vince Staples
2015
Summertime ’06 – 87%
With its multi-faced approach, very few debut albums are like Summertime ’06. In fact it’s a little bizarre to try an understand where he is coming from and what he is talking about, as most of these songs use different producers and vastly different approaches. The best way to approach it might be- Vince Staples who is someone who takes all of the sounds and approaches to hip-hop so far and tries to see what sticks. Throughout these 20 songs, most of them are full length so the album does hit the hour mark making it a double album. Staples is someone who is young but very aware of his history- he is trying to make an impact for sure. “Lift Me up” and opening salvo of tricks, lyric sample: “I need to fight the power/ but I need that new Ferrari.” His homage to Public Enemy, “Birds and the Bees” perhaps not so friendly to those who don’t share his background, but all the more powerful for it (to a lesser extent, “Dopeman” tries this as well). Depressing atmosphere, for sure, permeates all these songs. Same for “Jump Off the Roof”, a truly visceral experience that has the attitude of suicide (one of Staples favorite themes). “Norf Norf” has an upbeat tempo, but the attitude is all total anxiety stating police corruption and total rejection of everything- hate gangster rap and hate the audience that may or may not love him. “Summertime” is the opposite of the George Gershwin tune form 100 years prior, Staples reflects our current mind set, even in summertime- this could be paradise…maybe….but instead it tends to be an apocalypse.
The second part of the album is more of the same and many great songs to be found, the first one “3230” having the best backdrop with a surf-rock catchy vibe of California life contrasted in the darkness of the lyrics. “Surf” has the most cloudy and intense atmosphere, one that evokes a nervous version of Tribe Called Quest’s jazz-rap. “Street Punks” tells an awesome story, sort of like Pusha T as a teenager with no filter at all, where “C.N.B” brings in a dizzying effect through its still honest and direct about Staples’ place in America as a black man. “Like it Is” sums everything up: mystery synth work, fast and divers rapping, epic and prophetic energy. There plenty among these sixteen full length songs that don’t really work for me- “Loca”, “Might Be Wrong” and “Seniorita” - a case of just every idea possible being present so not everything is gonna be stellar. Still, Summertime ’06 is a rarity- a long and windy album full of infinite hip hop production that sill sounds innovative and exciting years later; there is enough energy and excitement going on that it is very hard to get bored.
Best Songs: 3230, Norf Norf, Summertime, Street Punks, Like It Is, Jump Off the Roof
2017
Big Fish Theory - 95%
This album is one of the few instant classics of the 2010’s, instantly becoming one of my favorite rap records of all time. Where so many albums are overlong and somewhat bloated, this album is precise in what it is trying to say and says it in 35 minutes. Combining the inventive but depressing ideas from his Big Time EP from 2016 (one of the best hip hop EP’s of all time!), the album is a trip in the different ways raps can be applied to music. Like his previous full length, Summertime ’06, each song is a different kind of production for a rap song. The offbeat, Residents influenced demented clang of "SAMO" stands next to the heavy ballad of "Rain Come Down" without a problem, and smooth rockers such as the hypnotic "745" (a booming bass track if there ever was one) are right by solo skits gone stretched out to longer lengths like "Alyssa Interlude", injecting a soulful energy. The extraordinary blips and bloops of “Crabs in a Bucket: and especially "Love Can Be" sound like an alternate soundtrack to the silent movie Metropolis, all other worldly and spectacular. Speaking of cinematic influences, the frantic and seizure inducing “Homage” questions the very nature of what pop music means while also name-dropping Alfred Hitchcock.
Staples is influenced all over the album by modern acts like Janelle Monae and his guest star Kendrick Lamar on "Yeah Right", but also by more old school artists like the playful antics of De La Soul on "Party People", plus a healthy dose of depression and pretention inherited from Mos Def to keep things at the pinnacle of diversity (lyric sample: “Good vibrations is what I need/ death and destruction is all I see”). “Bigbak” is cleverly placed towards the end of the album but is easily an era defining stand out for hip hop music, calling out the rich, government controlled state of our nation with the brilliant and but silly lyric “tell the government to suck a dick/ because we own them”. It is one of the most cathartic rap songs of all time. The spewing of rage is present all over the record, combining the dance music of the time with the punk rock attitude.
What Staples expertly does is lay out possibilities and directions he could go in in the future, and he does so by being the best at every single idea he puts forward and NEVER playing it safe and easy. He could easily make an album full of songs like club hit "Big Fish", but that would bore him; his short attention span echoes among the intelligent people of his generation. He knows how to find great producers, he knows how to please everyone from the neophyte kids who just wanna dance to the hard-edged critics looking for flaws in the veneer. It may take the world years to catch up to how fast Vince Staples is growing, but I would like to think that in 10 or twenty years, this will be the consensus as the greatest musical hip hop creation of 2017.
Best Songs: Bagbak, Homage, Samo, 745
2022
Ramona Park Broke My Heart - 72%
If Vince Saptles, ever had a pop rap album, this is the closet he ever got. Take the template of FM! (2018), mix it with the qualities of new trap rap and typical depression on self-title (2021) and you get this album, which is still a bit a troubled experience. Trying to come back into the spotlight, Staples had not really found his stride again. In songs such as “When Sparks Fly” and the amazing “Rosa Street” he still is capable of hitting high points musically even though the lyrics are more despairing then ever. On pop songs such as “Magic” and “Lemonade”, Staples is happier than he ever had been before and these kinds of songs serve as nice distractions but are nothing supremely innovative. “Paper Cuts” (trap rap perfection) and closer “The Blues” (repeating “money made me numb” over and over) have real power as well.
Other kind of simplistic tunes, such as “Aye!” and “East Point Prayer” fail to add too much to Staples overall sound though they still serve as examples of modern hip hop that keeps things moderate and pleasant. The real thing is this album fails to have an identity, if it was going for ‘pop’ it doesn’t have enough songs that match the two great ones, and coming out of the EP from the year before, it fares better but still fails to make much impression. Half of the record is skippable or made of pointless interludes. A step in an interesting direction, but still not up to Staples’ previous standards.
Best Songs: Rose Street, Magic, Lemonade
2024
Dark Times - 86%
Vince Staples made an album that matched his first couple in my opinion with this new record, and you can tell he dug deep into his soul on this one to craft a masterwork. Dark Times is an accurate name, as Staples at times sounds like everything is over and it is too late to rejuvenate; some would call it stale, but it is actually a futurist, fatalist tone that he has pioneered throughout his ten-year career. When Staples and his soulful cohorts sing that “Nothing really Matters”, we believe him. The deadpan delivery feels epic on “Black and Blue”, feels downright apocalyptic on “Shame on the Devil”, feels nihilistic with the rapping of “Radio.” There are also some amazing new classic tracks, the shuffling psychedelic warlord he becomes on “Etouffee” perhaps his most powerful epic in a while; the repetitive “Little Homies” comes at us fast and hard toward the end of the record and while it may feel hopeless, Staples actually chimes in at the end “Keep your head up/ Things will get better!” in an unusually optimistic message.
Staples form of Hip Hop can hit hard and can seem like it blends a bit together, like his last couple albums Vince Staples (2021) and Ramona Park Broke My Heart (2022) did a little more than my liking. However, blending the pessimism party music of his amazing era defining EP Prima Donna (2016) and his dance beat heavy Big Fish (2017) he comes full circle here and paints the way for a possibly groundbreaking future. He keeps it short at 35 minutes and that is just about enough this time around, culminating in a preacher’s ode like “Freeman.” It feels like Vince Staples’ world weary draw and way of passive rapping is finally matched by production and music to match (mainly by LeKen Taylor), similar to how Al Green found Willie Mitchell as producer/collaborator or so many atmospheric bands were flocking to Kramer in his prime.
Best Songs: Little Homies, Shame on the Devil, Etouffee, Black and Blue
Compilations
2014
Hell Can Wait EP – 84%
Beyond a promising EP, Stales debut is like lighting a literal fire under the world of hip hop in the middle 2010's. You have to love his earnest nature while also being super depressing, as the atmosphere is very central and focused on himself as if every song he is expelling his demons. They songs like "65 Hunnid" bring a champion into nature, like the swagger of Outkast has come back to life and met the haunted nature of 2pac. This is often juxtaposed with the downbeat nature of the songs, as repeated over and over you have “Fire” stating over and over “I’m probably going to hell anyway”, or the futile nature of “Screen Door” just might swallow the listener into its sinister void. Though, these songs are supremely catchy, the jumpy nature of “Limos” with it’s smooth female sang chorus (Teyana Taylor) and the despairing "Hands Up" mixed with the silly synth fluctuating throughout "Blue Suede". Maybe every single song is not a masterwork, "Feelin’ the Love” is easily the low point, and I don’t really like “Limos” as much as everyone else though it’s fairly enjoyable. But enough of this is promising catchy hip hop, a very bright spot and one of the better Eps of 2014.
Best Songs: Screen Door, Blue Suede, 65 Hunnid
2016
Prima Donna EP– 98%
Staples had always shown potential on previous outings, but these are his strongest set of songs yet, even though it is only a 21-minute EP. It paints a vivid picture of what his life is like on "Loco" with an excellent guest spot by Kilo Kish, and his rampaging spirit hovers over the listener of tracks like "War Ready", a rallying cry that really begins the proceedings. Listening to the record, where each song’s end contains a brief yet painful recitation about how bad his life can be, is a completely harrowing experience. All this and the beats and sound effects, screeching and overpowering, make all the other rap acts of the year sound tame. Help comes from producers James Blake, DJ Dahi and John Hill, as well as co-writers Outkast members re-uniting (surprisingly under the radar) Big Boi and Andre 3000.
There is the screaming noise-rock of "Big Time”, which is perhaps an homage to Peter Gabriel’s song of the same name (also a an act of overpowering with SOUNDS), while "Smile” paints depression as an act of defiance and title track "Prima Donna" contains some of the most twisted, earth shaking addictive hip hop you will ever hear. It shocks the ear drums using a echoing alien sounding vocal as the backdrop- the music alone is the highlight of Staples quest for a truly disorienting type of rap song. Lastly, hilarious rap daydreams such as "Pimp Hand" give levity to the harsh tapestry that Staples puts down. The mix of depressive lyrics, really fun and off kilter sound effects, and addictive pulsating music makes this one of the best Hip Hop or any kind of musical EP statements ever made. His next full length is my most awaited album of 2017. This EP ranks up there with The Gun Club’s Death Party (1983), Dead Can Dance’s Garden of Arcade Delights (1984), Tv on the Radio’s Young Liars (2003), REM’s Chronic Town (1982), Pixies’ Come on Pilgrim (1987), as one of the all time greats.
Best Songs: Prima Donna, Big Time, Pimp Hand, War Ready
2018
FM! EP – 81%
Truly experimenting even more with sounds and upbeat nature, Staples next album (actually an EP with only 8 full length songs and 22 minutes) sound like a bit of a dumping ground between projects. What works and what doesn’t is up to the listener of course. Personally, I am slightly annoyed by “Outside” even though it is more chipper then he usually is, and “Don’t get Chipped” and “Tweakin” do about nothing for me. However, “Relay” I think is pretty genius and one of his better songs (even I have no idea what he is talking about), along with opener “Feels Like Summer” is a perfect summer song it is trying to be. “Run the Bands” is much more conventional sounding for him, embracing some mainstream trap rap sounds, but it totally WORKS at what it is trying to do, so how cares? Fun! Is an apt name for this project (and the title track “Fun!- we don’t wanna fuck or nothing/ we don’t give a fuck about nothing!”), as more than ever it feels like Staples and his producers are having a great time producing music. The amazing single of 2018 that was on the Black Panther soundtrack- “Opps” featuring Yugen Blakrok and Kendrick Lamar- would have fit right in here. It’s the least innovative thing he has done so far, but still very enjoyable.
Best Songs: Relay, Run the Bands, Feels Like Summer
2021
Vince Staples EP – 65%
As with many of the best artists, even the most unassuming work is pretty good and worth a chance for fans. It’s not that the self-titled EP (22 minutes long, yes its an EP) is his worst record, it just feel sort of like an uninspired take on life. Kenny Beats, who has produced this and many hip hop master works for Billy Woods and Denzel Curry, is not the issue. For example, a lot of these songs sound monotonous and the same, which is not something I would say about his other releases. Say what you will about his rapping, the music behind staples is always pretty diverse- except here, where its one depressing mid-tempo dirge after another. Maybe that is where he is right now in life? But take a song like “Sundown Town”, its almost like Staples barely manages to change notes or verses- he sounds bored himself by what he is saying. “Are You with That”, “Taking Trips”, “MHM” are almost exactly the same- small trap beats and chorus that repeat the same words over and over. That is not to say there aren’t a couple of winning songs- “Law of Averages” is an easy lead single, and “the Shining” isn’t too far behind as despairing and minimal as it is. So if you are looking for flaws in Staples grand design, yes after a three-year absence Vince Staples was not worth the wait. But he is bound to recover.
Best Songs: Law of Averages, the Shining