The future of The Vince Staples Show may not be clear. But, fans can rest assured knowing that the “When Sparks Fly” rapper has new music on the way.
Today (May 19), Vince Staples announced his next album, Dark Times, across the entertainer’s official social media pages. In a note shared on Instagram, Vince outlined his professional journey which served as an inspiration for the forthcoming project.
“Eleven years ago, a young, uncertain version of myself was given an opportunity with Def Jam Recordings,” he wrote. “I released my first project under their banner, ‘Shyne Coldchain Vol 2,’ a year later. I was unsure of what to expect from the world of music, but deeply aware of what I needed: a change in my surroundings and a clear understanding of self. Ten years and seven projects later, I’ve found that clarity. Now, I share with you my final Def Jam release, Dark Times. 5.24.24.”
To give supporters a taste of what’s to come, Vince went on to upload a snippet of one of the body of work’s upcoming tracks, “Shame On The Devil.”
After 5 years of chopping samples and dropping unplanned bars with his closest friends, Kenny Beats ended his hit YouTube series The Cave. The Cave centered on one key phrase, which has become a spiritual mantra of Kenny’s studio: Don’t Over Think Sh**. Throughout 46 episodes of varying length, Kenny inspired rappers such as Freddie Gibbs, Danny Brown, Teezo Touchdown, and more to rap over hastily-made beats with uncleared samples, resulting in a myriad of delightful tracks that will never see life on any streaming service.
In an April 29 community post directly to his YouTube subscribers, Kenny Beats confirmed that he would be bringing The Cave to an end. “I spent 16 hours a day in that room, 7 days a week, telling any one I could reach to come make music,” the statement read. “After a while, we realized everyone who was coming by was going to be a legend, and the Cave started. This show changed my life, your support changed my life.” Let’s look back on a handful of the best freestyles to come out of the illustrious series.
ScHoolboy Q popped up for the series finale of The Cave and ended the show with a bang. As part of a victory lap from dropping his long-awaited album Blue Lips at the top of March, Q explained right from the start that he hadn’t had much material prepared. Ultimately, he managed to rap the “verse of the year” even though Kenny hadn’t finished chopping the beat.
It’s more than fitting that the final episode of The Cave saw Kenny Beats uttering his now-iconic refrain of “the show is not supposed to go like this,” as that became something of a motto throughout the series. If there’s one lesson to take away from Kenny’s show, it’s that rappers can be difficult to work with, incapable of following direction and flatly aggressive at times, but if you give them a hot enough beat, they’ll turn it into magic.
6. Isaiah Rashad
Like ScHoolboy Q, fellow TDE signee Isaiah Rashad also joined Kenny Beats on The Cave to promote a new album back in 2021. Rashad appeared on the show just before his album The House Is Burning hit streaming. Isaiah Rashad and Kenny clearly share a lot of camaraderie, and their chemistry shines on their quickly-constructed track.
Rashad was originally slated to appear on The Cave at an earlier date. The original episode never materialized online, for unknown reasons. Kenny Beats jokes about this at the beginning of the episode by labeling the song file “Zay Cave Take 2.” He also stated, “We have Isaiah Rashad in The Cave today, first time ever… Somebody leaked a photo a while ago, that was all Photoshop.”
Unlike most guests on The Cave, Thundercat doesn’t specialize in writing bars. This made his episode extra special, as he joined Kenny in constructing the beat, dropping some slick grooves on his bass before entering the booth. Thundercat exudes purely chaotic energy in the studio, making him one of the most entertaining characters to grace the series. In his February 2020 episode, Thundercat correctly predicts that Coronavirus is about to become a serious problem, expresses concerns over the upcoming presidential election, and downs a staggering 4 Yerba Mates, totaling more than 300 mg of caffeine in less than an hour.
4. Earthgang
Earthgang deserves a spot on this list for Olu’s incredible world map pants alone. Still, their inclusion can truly be credited to the “crazy kung-fu freestyle action” promised by WowGr8 early in the episode. The Atlanta rap duo joined Kenny Beats on The Cave in the first season. They provided a freestyle so well-crafted it could seamlessly have been dropped on streaming if its samples were properly cleared. The pair of Dreamville signees exhibit tremendous chemistry here, making their long-awaited episode one of the most memorable in the show’s 5-year run.
Denzel Curry’s episode of The Cave was billed as the season 1 finale. It packs the second longest run time of any episode at 16 minutes and 12 seconds in length. Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats dropped a collaborative EP only 6 months after this episode premiered. The project, titled Unlocked, solidified the fact that the pair perfectly fed off of each other’s musical energy.
While Denzel is less outwardly antagonistic to Kenny than his usual guests, he manages to keep the energy incredibly high. Kenny even remarks “Denzel here by himself is like more energy than ten people.” If we’re measuring by pure bars, this might actually be the best freestyle on this list, as Denzel effortlessly traverses multiple beat switches in real-time with memorable lyrics such as “Flames all on my body like I’m Charmander.”
2. Zack Fox
While Denzel Curry may have had the best jaw-dropping bars in The Cave‘s history, nobody made the show synonymous with their name quite like Zack Fox. The Cave is largely responsible for launching Zack Fox’s music career in the first place. Though Fox had dropped a few comedic tracks online before his Cave appearance, he was mostly known for his comedy writing and hilarious social media rants which once got him banned from Twitter (now X.)
While Thundercat may have exhibited some loopy energy on The Cave, Zack Fox appears on the series as the final boss of chaos. Fox raps hilarious bars about freeing Palestine and preemptively offering condolences for the impending death of Betty White. His freestyle was later developed into a “real” song titled “Jesus Is the One (I Got Depression)” that went mega-viral. When people think back to Kenny Beats’ series The Cave, there’s a 90 percent chance that this is the episode that got them into the show.
1. Vince Staples
Just two weeks after the explosive Zack Fox episode made The Cave a viral sensation, Vince Staples joined the show and launched the insanity to the stratosphere. Denzel Curry may have offered the best rapping, and Zack Fox may have provided the most comedy, but Vince Staples perfectly smashes these two worlds together with a freestyle that is equal parts off-the-walls and loaded with powerful rhymes.
From the top of the show, Vince Staples pesters Kenny Beats with the voracity of Bugs Bunny, demanding a beat with “808’s no heartbreak, at all” and “Black on everything crime, even animals.” Elsewhere in the episode, Vince throws up gang signs, accuses Kenny of engaging in the slave trade for locking his studio door, and raps the now iconic phrase “Kenny Beats is the police.” Kenny Beats cop memes flooded the internet for years after this landmark episode, causing the producer to jest in multiple episodes that “Vince Staples ruined my life.”
If you plan on finding yourself in Finland this summer (or don’t yet but have been looking for some travel inspiration), Flow Festival Helsinki is set to go down from August 9 to 11. The lineup was already looking fantastic, but it just got even better today (April 23) with the third wave of acts announced.
The full list of artists unveiled today includes Halsey, Janelle Monáe, Vince Staples, Aurora,, Amaarae, Yves Tumor, Barry Can’t Swim, Evian Christ, Ron Trent Presents WARM, Gasellit, Malla, Lauri Haav, SMC, Turisti, Grande Mahogany, and Goldielocks.
They join a lineup that already featured folks like Fred Again.., Raye, Pulp, Idles, The Smile, PJ Harvey, Jessie Ware, Overmono, Blonde Redhead, Alvvays, Miriam Bryant, Kenya Grace, Artemas,
Kokoko!, Serpentwithfeet, and Helena Hauff.
The fest goes down at the historic Suvilahti power plant area in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Tickets are available now via the Flow Festival website. Three-day passes start at 239€ (about $261), while a two-day pass goes for 199€ ($218) and a one-day pass is 129€ ($141) for Friday or Sunday, or 149€ ($163) for Saturday.
Flow Festival is fresh off a nomination for Best Festival Creative at the 2024 Uproxx Sound + Vision Awards, “a first-of-its-kind award honoring the creative direction that helps music connect with its audience, adding untold value and nuance to the art form.” So, it’s an event worth making the trip for.
Vince Staples was on The Joe Budden Podcast and pointed out another side of the current Kendrick Lamar/J. Cole/Drake beef that many have not considered, while stating the cast’s takes are “borderline coonery.”
Vince highlighted how corporations are getting in on the beef, highlighting the battles but never advocating for artists’ pockets.
“Once n-ggas mad, we got billboards from streamers talking about ‘Hip-Hop is a sport,’ but we ain’t never see a billboard from a streamer that said ‘give that n-gga his publishing back,’” Staples said.
You can hear Vince’s entire take below.
Vince Staples called into the Joe Budden Podcast to share some thoughts on the J Cole Kendrick and Drake Beef pic.twitter.com/x2NL0iuqaB
After taking 5 years off of new releases, ScHoolboy Q returned earlier this year. He dropped his new album Blue Lips last month and it was met with acclaim from both fans and critics. For the project he recruited guests like Rico Nasty, Freddie Gibbs, Ab-Soul and more. But with a recent tweet he hyped up yet another highly anticipated comeback from a former collaborator of his. Q teamed up with Vince Staples for the track “Ride Out” from 2016 album Blank Face LP.
Now Vince Staples is gearing up to release his own new album. His last project RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART dropped back in 2022 so he hasn’t been gone nearly as long as Q. But that hasn’t stopped fan anticipating from reaching just high of a point for his new album. That wasn’t helped by a new tweet from Q hyping the project up. “Da new Vince staples album omg. few records I wanna Hear again,” his tweet reads. In a later response to a comment he assured fans even further that the record is “crazy.” Check out the posts he made drumming up hype for the album below.
The cosign of his upcoming album mirrors Vince’s comments about Blue Lips earlier this year before it dropped. He was also building up hype for Q’s project in advance of its release. Vince has even been teasing his own upcoming album himself. Just last week he hinted that a new project could be on the way before he takes off on tour later this year.
Vince appears to be shifting his focus back to music after dropping his new Netflix TV-show earlier this year. The project was met with critical acclaim but hasn’t yet been officially renewed for a second season. What do you think of ScHoolboy Q hyping up Vince Staples new album? Do you think you’ll listen to the project whenever it drops? Let us know in the comment section below.
Ever since his debut, Vince Staples has been reliable for offering a unique viewpoint on the issues facing hip-hop. With seemingly everyone in the genre focused on the possible feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, he unsurprisingly had a skewed take that pointed out a huge problem when it comes to the business of selling rap beef.
Noticing that Spotify had begun running billboards in Times Square reading, “Hip-hop is a competitive sport,” Vince censured the streamer in the latest episode of the Joe Budden Podcast. When the host called the Long Beach rapper and asked about the supposed dispute between Drake and Kendrick, Staples called out both Spotify and the rest of the cast.
“We either with the coonin’ or we not, bro,” he said. “Once n****s get mad, we got billboards from streamers talking about ‘Hip-Hop is a sport’, but we ain’t never seen a billboard from a streamer that said ‘give that n**** his publishing back.’” He also made several salient points about the adoption of hip-hop in pop music and tech while cutting out as many of the craftspeople involved as possible. Naturally, those goofs argued with Vince, making fun of him for “always being on some cerebral sh*t,” but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s right.
Check out the clip below.
Vince Staples called into the Joe Budden Podcast to share some thoughts on the J Cole Kendrick and Drake Beef pic.twitter.com/x2NL0iuqaB
Killer Mike and Vince Staples have had a lot of reasons to celebrate over the past couple of months. Both acclaimed rappers have been racking up praise from critics in the entertainment and the music industry, respectively. Of course, Mike was awarded several GRAMMYs for his second solo record MICHAEL. He wound up taking Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Performance. For Staples, television buffs have been raving about The Vince Staples Show, his Netflix limited series. Killer Mike has been a big supporter of it since it dropped, and he is backing it further.
According to HipHopDX, he the Atlanta native is demanding that the streaming giant renew it for another season. He shared an Instagram post of him and Vince Staples dressed dapperly with a passionate caption. “@netflix we need season 2 of The @VinceStaples show and Trigger Warning with Killer Mike! #MICHAEL” The Run The Jewels affiliate is referring to a similar short series he dropped in 2019.
As we mentioned, the show has captured the attention of Mike from the start. When Vince tweeted and asked, “Who’s watching?” his fellow rap mate replied with glee “Me!” Furthermore, KM called the creative a “genius” and its clear their friendship is strong. Hopefully we do get that next season, with Rotten Tomatoes rating it 94% fresh.
What are your thoughts on Killer Mike backing Vince Staples in trying to get a second season for The Vince Staples Show? Did you get a chance to watch the Netflix series? If so, what did you think if of it? What was your favorite episode and why? Who had the best performance in the series? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Vince Staples and Killer Mike. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on around the world of music and TV.
Jack Harlow announced that he’s giving back to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky in another very special way. Today (February 28), the rapper announced that he will be hosting the first-ever Gazebo Festival there on May 25 and 26. And for the festival’s debut year, Harlow is bringing a killer lineup of performers along with him.
Harlow and SZA are set as the headliners. They will also be joined by James Blake (DJ set), Omar Apollo, PinkPantheress, Vince Staples, Amaarae, Channel Tres, Majid Jordan, Slum Village, Veeze, Dahi, Jordan Ward, Ravyn Lenae, Rich Homie Quan, BNYX, James Savage, Karrahbooo, and Malcolm Todd.
For those looking to go to Gazebo Festival, here’s what to know about securing tickets.
How To Buy Tickets For Gazebo Festival 2024
Right now, there is a presale sign-up open for Gazebo Festival, with the sale taking place on Wednesday, March 6 at 10 a.m. ET. Passes will then open to the public for the general sale on Friday, March 8 at the same time. The two-day General Admission pass is $255, with a portion of the proceeds from each ticket sale going to the Jack Harlow Foundation.
Additional information about Gazebo Festival 2024, including about the presale registration, can be found on their website.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Some artist-led festivals have made big names for themselves, like Pharrell’s Something In The Water, The Roots’ Roots Picnic, and most notably, Lollapalooza, originally launched by Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction. Now, Jack Harlow is getting into the festival game, too: Today (February 28), he announced Gazebo Festival, a two-day event that runs from May 25 to 26 at Louisville, Kentucky’s Waterfront Park.
This first edition of the fest, which shares its name with Harlow’s 2017 mixtape Gazebo and will feature two stages, will be headlined by SZA and Harlow himself. Beyond them, the full lineup features James Blake (doing a DJ set), Omar Apollo, PinkPantheress, Vince Staples, Amaarae, Channel Tres, Majid Jordan, Slum Village, Veeze, Dahi, Jordan Ward, Ravyn Lenae, Rich Homie Quan, BNYX, James Savage, Karrahbooo, and Malcolm Todd.
Tickets go on sale on March 8 at 10 a.m. ET, with general admission tickets starting at $255. There’s also a pre-sale starting March 6 at 10 a.m. ET. More information about tickets can be found on the festival website. A portion of proceeds from every ticket will benefit the Jack Harlow Foundation.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg says of the event, “Jack Harlow is an extraordinary Louisvillian who continues to give back to his hometown. This is yet another way Jack is showing up for our city and I can’t wait to see the excitement this festival creates. I am so grateful for his commitment to making first class things happen for Louisville and our people.”
Gazebo Festival 2024 Lineup Poster
Gazebo Festival
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In a recent interview about his new Netflix series, The Vince Staples Show, the Long Beach rapper gave a profound answer to what seemed on the surface to be a relatively straightforward question. “Every character is you,” he said. “I think that’s what gives us nuance.”
Now, he was responding to a question about how his show character — who is ostensibly a fictionalized version of himself — differs from the genuine article. But the thing is, his answer could be applied more broadly — not just to Vince Staples, or even to any actor/character combination, but to the very idea of representation itself.
We love TV because we see ourselves in the characters and situations onscreen. This is what gives those depictions their authenticity, what pulls us in, what engages us. This goes doubly for Black folks, who so rarely see ourselves and our lives onscreen that practically any representation can feel like a breath of fresh air.
Hip-hop, which marked its “official” 50th birthday last year, has had a profound effect on that representation. These days, Black audiences see themselves most clearly in boundary-pushing shows like The Vince Staples Show and Atlanta, but those shows are only the latest in a proud lineage of Black TV shows that wear their hip-hop influences on their sleeves.
Shows like The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and Living Single proved our favorite musicians could transition to screen stardom, while shows like Empire and The Breaks followed the behind-the-scenes inner workings of the business of hip-hop music (with an engrossing helping of drama to help them along), as shows like The Rap Game and Rhythm + Flow offered a path to stardom for real-life aspirants. A few years ago, I wrote about the hip-hop sketch comedy shows that also gave the culture a greater platform.
From Fresh Prince to Vince Staples, here’s a look at how hip-hop has pushed the boundaries of Black TV.
Sitcoms
In many ways, hip-hop’s legacy of extending the boundaries of television started with sitcoms (there’s a reason the title of this piece marks those two shows as bookends). Will Smith, the titular Fresh Prince of Bel Air, was the first rapper with a regular role in a scripted TV series, let alone a starring one. While it was the existing stardom from his and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s first album Rock The House that got his foot in the door, it was his acting chops that proved he belonged in Hollywood — and helped open the door for future rappers turned sitcom stars like Queen Latifah (Living Single), LL Cool J (In The House), Eve (who had her own eponymous show in 2003), Kid Cudi (How To Make It In America), and even Method Man and Redman (Method & Red, which ran for one truncated season on Fox in 2004).
The groundwork these shows laid allowed for the newer, more experimental approaches of shows like Atlanta and The Vince Staples Show, which drew inspiration from more offbeat shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, but paired them with hip-hop sensibilities. Atlanta, for instance, takes sharp detours in format and setting, sometimes opting for documentary-style episodes or standalone anthologies, which have been praised for moving not just Black TV but television as a whole forward.
Drama
The golden laurels for putting hip-hop on TV in a drama format almost certainly go to Empire, which took the dysfunctional family workings of classic soap operas like Dynasty and updated them to suit the trappings and lifestyle of a successful entertainment family, complete with a patriarch with a lengthy rap sheet. You can see shades of Succession, as well as star turns from both aspiring and established rappers. No doubt, the show’s success (including a slew of primetime Emmy Award nominations) opened the door for future network TV swings such as Queens. The theme of sisterhood from the latter carries over to Rap Sh!t, which chronicled the rags-to-riches story of a Miami rap duo inspired by City Girls.
Meanwhile, hip-hop’s fertile 50-year history offers a wealth of fascinating stories about its birth (The Get Down), development (The Breaks), and the biographies of some of his biggest stars (Wu-Tang: An American Saga). Meanwhile, rapper-turned-mogul 50 Cent has built an entire cinematic universe, Power, filling it with rappers like Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Freddie Gibbs, and Joey Badass.
Competition
Naturally, with the popularity of musical competitions like American Idol and The Voice, similar competition shows would focus on hip-hop, as the odds of succeeding on other shows can be slim (The X Factor eliminated teen rapper Astro, who nevertheless went on to have a solid film and TV career himself, including initially being cast on Euphoria, although he later turned the role down). One of the first rap-focused shows was 2003’s The Next Episode, which was produced by Showtime and Interscope Records to take advantage of the fervor surrounding Eminem’s film debut 8 Mile.
And while that show’s results would prove less than satisfactory, future efforts have produced genuine stars. Jermaine Dupri’s The Rap Game, which aired on Lifetime from 2016-2019, is notable for launching the career of Latto, as well as featuring future standouts like Flau’Jae. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Rhythm+Flow saw the rise and breakout of D Smoke, who went on to receive a Grammy nomination for his debut album Black Habits. The show is set to return in 2024.
Reality
As much as reality shows are looked down on as “trash TV,” there’s no denying their popularity — or their ability to share details of our favorite entertainers’ lives. Growing Up Hip Hop chronicles the lives of second-generation hip-hop stars, while a whole bunch of stars, from Snoop Dogg to Rev Run, have their own shows about their respective family lives and the often wholesome bonds that maintain them throughout their hectic lives.
Of course, no hip-hop reality show is better known or more engrossing than Love & Hip-Hop, the long-running series chronicling the ins and outs of romance in the rap scenes of several major cities. While many come for the mess, the show is responsible — at least in part — for the rise of one of the most notable names in rap: Cardi B, who spent several seasons in the cast of Love & Hip Hop: New York, becoming a breakout fan favorite and giving her the launching platform for one of the most successful careers in rap for a woman ever.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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