Vince Staples‘ worldview has been pretty cleared laid out over the course of his short but critically-hailed catalog. But in the midst of a global pandemic, it appears that his worldview is evolving, as he details for comedian and TV show host Desus Nice in a new interview in GQ. The Long Beach rapper reveals that he’s had to revamp his outlook; he’s taking more time off, he reexamining his musical approach, and he’s enjoying being a homeowner.
But there’s one thing that won’t change; his reluctance to call the police, which even extends to his home pest problems. As he explains through a hilarious anecdote:
It’d be animals outside, and I didn’t think of that. When I bought a house, I got a yard. And something wanna live in it, and you’re going to have to get it out. And with me, it’s like, “All right. You mind your business, I’ll mind my business.” But the animals be getting a little too close to the house sometimes. You know what I mean? I remember there was like a giant rodent. I don’t even know what it was, but it was by the south side, by the garage. I just had to leave it there. And man, I kept calling people to try to take it out of there for like five, seven hours.
And then they told me to call animal control, and animal control is controlled by the police department. And Black people feel a way about calling the police to the house. I was scared the whole time. That was my personal hiccup as a homeowner. Eventually, they came to the house to remove the rodent; they was cool. But I was like, “Man, I don’t know if I want you all to come over here and be looking at me like, ‘Oh, look at this n****; he can’t get a rodent out of this house.’” I got to stand strong.
Of course, the real punchline is: Long Beach’s Animal control is actually under the parks department.
Elsewhere in the interview, Vince details the difference between online console gaming communities, things he’s learned from rap mentors like Snoop Dogg and Nipsey Hussle, and shares a few of his comeback plans, which include a Netflix television show and a new album titled Ramona Park Broke My Heart. You can read the full interview here.
