Vince Staples

Vince Staples’ New ‘Are You With That?’ Video Illuminates The Unsettling Nature Of Surveillance

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Vince Staples has been back lately in a big way, even though he never left. The Long Beach-raised rapper is brutally honest enough to talk about the way the music industry monetizes people’s struggles, and on the heels of releasing his latest full-length album, Vince Staples, he’s shared another new video for “Are You With That?” The video follows up earlier singles like “Law Of Averages,” oh and an explosive LA Leakers freestyle, giving fans more of what they were hoping for in the lead up to the new project.

In the first half of the clip, Vince is portrayed under glaring spotlight in a number of mundane situations, doubling down on the unsettling nature of surveillance, and the way Black people are scrutinized in a specific way, especially those who grew up in neighborhoods like Vince did. In the second half, Vince portrays the process of burying and holding vigils for his friends in an even more explicit way, showing himself deeper and deeper in a grave each scene. Vince Staples came out last Friday, but it’s only one of several projects Vince is working on lately. He’s also previewed his graphic novel Limbo Beach and teased yet another new musical project, Ramona Park Broke My Heart to follow up this record. Check out the new video above and stream his new record here.

Vince Staples Explained How The Music Industry ‘Monetizes People’s Struggles’

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On Friday, Vince Staples ended the nearly three-year-long stretch that he went without releasing a full-length project to fans. The Long Beach native shared his official third album, Vince Staples, and it arrived following weeks of frequent headline-making comments and interviews from the rapper.

Vince continues that streak with a recent sit-down with The Independent where he shared his thoughts on the current landscape of the music industry and how some rapper use gang affiliation to boost their rise and appeal in hip-hop.

“This is a business where we monetize people’s struggles, pain, death and murder,” he said. “If you’re a kid from a situation, and you feel the only way that you will get out of the situation where there’s immense poverty or bad home life or low self-esteem is by doing this thing that everyone is selling, you’re going to try to sell that thing.”

He added, “We’ve seen people market and distribute death and destruction within our communities for decades; they do these things because it gets attention. What do we really expect when we give people millions of dollars to say they’re tough? They’re gonna say they’re tough. It’s common sense.”

The rapper also pointed out that rather than focus on the individuals doing good, the media instead choose to pay attention to those who fit a “bad boy” image.

“These people who do the wrong thing are always brought up [by the media], but no one who’s done the right things has been mentioned,” he said.

Vince Staples is out now via Blacksmith Recordings/Motown Records. Pre-order it here.

Vince Staples Delivers An ‘Explosive’ LA Leakers Freestyle

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With Vince Staples’ long-awaited self-titled album dropping this Friday, he’s doing the usual media tour, stopping by the hometown radio station, Power 106, to deliver an in-depth freestyle on the LA Leakers show over a classic West Coast instrumental. Taking on the beat from Dr. Dre’s 1999 2001 standout, “Xxplosive,” the Long Beach native gets especially busy with a wordplay-riddled verse that names names, makes big claims, and casts a skeptical glare at the rap game.

Let’s talk about those claims though. Among them, Vince insists:

– He’s done more for the Black community “than them Obamas did.”
– He has tagged the walls in his neighborhood every week.
– He fell off the grid in order to attend fútbol games in Spain.
– He lived out his favorite songs, which include 50 Cent’s “Many Men.”
– He will kill you if you say his name in his song. No rap.

Also, he shouts out Carmelitos, a place very near and dear to my heart. I’ll go ahead and say it: This is the best LA Leakers freestyle in a while.

In addition to absolutely disintegrating the Power 106 microphone, Vince has released two singles for the album, “Law Of Averages” and “Are You With That?,” written a comic book, Limbo Beach, and reminded fans he’s been real since Summertime 06.

Watch Vince Staples’ “explosive” LA Leakers freestyle above.

Vince Staples drops 7/9 on Blacksmith/Motown. Pre-save it here.

Vince Staples Asks ‘Are You With That?’ On His Surprisingly Melodic New Single

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Vince Staples is just days away from the release of his self-titled album, sharing its latest single, “Are You With That?” to not only build buzz for the project but to also show off his intriguing artistic growth. Usually known for pairing his fatalistic lyrics with doom-ridden, menacing soundscapes, Vince takes a different tack with “Are You With That?,” hum-rapping a reflective meditation on the Pyrrhic choices that often face folks who grow up the way he did over an upbeat, almost nostalgic tune that belies the paranoid subject matter.

Vince explained the stylistic switch up to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe as he premiered the new song, admitting, “I was just having a lot of conversations with a lot of people around me… and people always say, ‘Oh, you used to always say these stories and this and that, and I don’t notice much about these specific things. Why don’t you put it into the music?’ And it’ll be stuff that has been in songs for years. And then I realized the backdrop wasn’t right for certain things I was saying or vice versa. I feel like [Vince Staples] is kind of very descriptive and distinct… it’s not a bunch of glory stories or things like that, I guess it’s just more personal.”

Listen to “Are You With That?” above. Check out Vince’s previous Vince Staples single “Law Of Averages” here.

Vince Staples is due 7/9 on Motown. Pre-save it here.

Vince Staples Shares The Tracklist For His Upcoming Self-Titled Album As Its Release Date Nears

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After nearly three years, Vince Staples is finally releasing a new project. The Long Beach rapper will share his third album, a self-titled effort, at the end of next week. It’s a project that will feature heavy production by Kenny Beats, something he revealed in an interview with W magazine.

“[Kenny] sent me a beat that I recorded on, and it just went from there,” he said. “We didn’t go into it intentionally thinking that we would end up with as much as we had. We ended up working two days a week for a month, from after Thanksgiving until before Christmas in 2020. A couple of weeks in, we looked up, and we had some stuff.”

As the release for Vince Staples nears, the rapper shared the tracklist for the upcoming effort on Saturday.

Vince’s third album is comprised of 10 tracks with a lone feature from rising singer Foushee. It also features his previously released single, “Law Of Averages,” which he released for fans last month. A quick glance at the album’s Apple Music pre-save page shows that Vince Staples clocks in at just 22 minutes, which happens to be the exact length of his last project, 2018’s FM!.

Blacksmith/Motown

You can check out the album’s artwork above and its tracklist below.

1. “Are You With That?”
2. “Law Of Averages”
3. “Sundown Town”
4. “The Shining”
5. “Taking Trips”
6. “The Apple & The Tree”
7. “Take Me Home” Feat. Foushee
8. “Lil Fade”
9. “Lakewood Mall”
10. “Mhm”

Vince Staples is out 7/9 via Blacksmith Recordings/Motown Records. Pre-order it here.

Vince Staples Reflects On His Humble Beginning On The Anniversary Of ‘Summertime ’06’

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Summertime ’06 was a huge release for Vince Staples. Following a handful of mixtapes in the years prior, the rapper’s 2015 debut album was the first time a lot of fans were exposed to him. Additionally, the album remains Staples’ one of his biggest chart successes, at is has his highest peak on the Billboard Hot Rap Albums chart at No. 2. That album came out six years ago today, and Staples’ celebration on Twitter made him a trending topic.

This afternoon, he tweeted, “Summertime ’06 was 6 years ago. Thank you to everyone who listened. [heart emoji] N.I.P. TSkrap.” He then added a couple hours later, “Favorite song from Summertime ’06?” Sure enough, he got his answer, as “Norf Norf” started trending.

He went on to describe his humble housing arrangement while making the album: “When Summertime ’06 was being made we stayed off 7th & Temple four deep in a one bedroom apartment with one 380. Life change fast lol.”

Back when Staples first announced the album, he wrote of it on Instagram (as Stereogum notes), “Love tore us all apart. Love for self, love for separation, love for the little we all had, love for each other, where we came from… Summer of 2006, the beginning of the end of everything I though I knew. Youth was stolen from my city that Summer and Im left alone to tell the story. This might not make sense but that’s because none of it does, we’re stuck. Love tore us all apart.”

Vince Staples Shares A First Look At His Upcoming ‘Limbo Beach’ Graphic Novel

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Vince Staples may be gearing up for the release of his upcoming self-titled album, but that’s not the only exciting project the rapper has in the works. Staples revealed that he’s partnered with Z2 Comics to co-author a science fiction graphic novel titled Limbo Beach.

Staples and Z2 Comics shared a first look at the novel’s illustration style Thursday. Limbo Beach was co-written by Vince Staples alongside novelists Bryan Edward Hill and Chris Robinson, with illustrations by Buster Moody. According to the summary on Z2 Comic’s website, the story follows a group of “a band of misfit teenage raiders” as they explore an abandoned amusement park run by adolescents that give them super powers.

In a statement alongside the novel’s announcement, Staples described the world in which the story takes place:

“Limbo Beach is the story of lost children fighting to regain their stolen youth. It takes place in a world similar to the one that we all live in, where we are shaped by our experiences and those around us. I appreciate the opportunity to create these stories in a way that I never have before. Hopefully it is the first of many.”

Limbo Beach is slated for a December 2021 release. Pre-order it here.

Vince Staples’ Relaxed ‘Law Of Averages’ Is The Long-Awaited Start Towards His Third Album

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Vince Staples hasn’t exactly disappeared since releasing his 2018 project, FM!. The Long Beach rapper has been and remains a comical presence on social media while contributing guest verses to artists that include Tiana Major9, Lil Yachty, and Reason. However, in the nearly three years since FM!, supporters of Vince have sought and remained patient for the arrival of his third album. Luckily for them, the rapper revealed that he actually has two projects on the way, one titled Ramona Park Broke My Heart and another Vince Staples. It’ll be a while until either of those arrive, but thankfully, Vince begins the rollout for it with his brand new single, “Law Of Averages.”

The track arrives with a grainy video that captures Vince posted up with the homies in his neighborhood as he raps over the track’s soulful production. There’s good reason to be excited about Vince’s upcoming self-titled album and Ramona Park Broke My Heart. The former is an effort that features heavy production from Kenny Beats, who has a great resume filled with impressive work with a wide array of acts.

“[Kenny] sent me a beat that I recorded on, and it just went from there,” Vince said about the project. “We didn’t go into it intentionally thinking that we would end up with as much as we had. We ended up working two days a week for a month, from after Thanksgiving until before Christmas in 2020. A couple of weeks in, we looked up, and we had some stuff.”

Prior to that, Killer Mike had nothing but positive words to say about one of Vince’s upcoming albums. Every time I C @vincestaples my spirit is lifted,” he wrote in an Instagram post. He added, “After hearing his new project I repeat and repeat he beyond ‘Gifted’. Love & Respect always!”

You can listen to “Law Of Averages” in the video above.

Here’s a Complete List of Every XXL Freshman Over the Years

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A look at all of the stars who have graced XXL Freshman covers over the years. Continue reading…