Tag: Vince Staples

My Favorite Rappers: Vince Staples Pt. 2 (FM!)

On By spaceylifeIn Favorite Rapper List, Hip-HopLeave a comment

This November, Vince Staples released his third studio album, titled “FM!”. This album is one of my most favorite projects I have heard over the last year. It starts with the song “Feels Like Summer” where Staples introduces the sound of the album thanks to a feature of Big Boy and the cast of Big Boy’s Neighborhood.

The album continues the summertime vibe with the song “Outside!”. When I first heard it, I felt it as a song that would hype up the crowd at a concert. At the end of the song, it sounds like the disk slows down to a halt, and transitions to the beat of the next song, “Don’t Get Chipped”. This is one of my favorite songs on the album because of how fast paced he comes rapping out of the gate.

At the end of the next song, “Relay” the disk slow down effect happens again and one of the cast from Big Boy’s Neighborhood comes in with a promotion for winning tickets to a Kehlani Concert. The beat carries to the next track titled, “New earlsweatshirt (Interlude)” but quickly is cut off by a clip saying, “New Earl Sweatshirt on Big Boy’s Neighborhood”. Although the song is 22 seconds, and Earl’s verse is only 19, the interlude adds a connector between “Relay” and the next song, “Run the Bands”.

Earl Sweatshirt (left) and Vince Staples performing

At three minutes eight seconds, it is the longest song on the album. At the end of the song, Big Boy comes on continuing the radio theme of the album, and leads to the next song, “FUN!”. With a very upbeat tempo, “FUN!” talks about the view of most young people today, in the chorus. The song also features a Bay Area legend, E-40.

In the next song, “No Bleedin”, Staples has another feature from the Bay Area, in Kamaiyah. That song is followed by “Brand New Tyga – Interlude” and “(562) 453-9382 – Skit”, with the former being a short verse by Tyga, and the latter being a skit in the form of a contest call to Big Boy’s Neighborhood. The album ends with the song “Tweakin’” where Vince Staples has yet another Bay Area feature, with Kehlani on the chorus.

This album is one of my favorites because you can tell it is made to be listened to all in a row. Although there are a few standouts for catchy songs that can be added to the queue at a party, they are much more fluid as a whole project. I also like how he carried the Big Boy’s Neighborhood sketches throughout the entire album. In a recent interview, Vince hinted at possibly eight more projects from him in the year of 2019 alone. For me, as long as he keeps innovating and being creative, there is no telling how insane some of these projects may be.

My Favorite Rappers: Vince Staples Pt. 1

On By spaceylifeIn Favorite Rapper List, Hip-HopLeave a comment

For my second artist of my list of favorite rappers, I decided to talk about Vince Staples. I first heard Vince Staples when through his song “Norf Norf” off of his first studio album, “Summertime ‘06” released in 2015.

It came out a few weeks after I had graduated from high school in the summer of 2015, when my friends and I had no responsibilities and would mob around all day, every day of summer. Although I couldn’t relate to every part of the song, I spent most of my days rapping along to, “I ain’t never ran from nothing but the police”.

I went back to his first EP titled “Hell Can Wait” from the fall of 2014. Although only around 24 minutes long, the project still received positive reviews from the critics. None of that was much concern to me once I heard “Blue Suede”.

I was in my friend’s car when I was listening to the album and once the deep bass hit in the beginning, the whole car was shaking. I could not help but bounce back and forth to the beat while listening, even to this day. On top of that, he paints a picture with his verses that really pulls the listener in. Wanting to go even deeper into his music, I started asking my friend if he knew of any other Vince Staples songs. He then showed me a song that Staples was featured in back in 2013, off of Earl Sweatshirt’s Debut album “Doris”. The song was called “Hive” and although it had a much different feel than “Norf Norf” and “Blue Suede”, the change in pace made me focus even more on the lyrics and be even more impressed.

Prima Donna Album Cover

In 2016, Vince dropped his second EP titled “Prima Donna”. Although only seven tracks, it showed how much more refined and tuned his skills are becoming. It also shows his ability to be creative visually along with lyrically. A week after the release of the EP, he released a ten minute short film to go along with the project.

Big Fish Theory Album Cover

 

 

His second studio album, “Big Fish Theory”, was released in the summer of 2017, two years after his debut studio album. This album however, was much different than “Summertime ‘06”. It has more of an electronic music feel in the beats, and really pushes the invisible limit of creativity in Hip-Hop. One of my favorite songs on that album is the second song on the track list, “Big Fish”.

In the next installment, I will go into detail on his most recent album “FM!”, which is one of my most favorite projects of 2018.

Citizen Journalism Hip-Hop

On By spaceylifeIn Class Lecture, Hip-HopLeave a comment

In my journalism class, we discussed citizen journalism in society; Boston bomber witnesses on social media, the students in Parkland, FL during the school shooting, etc. It got me thinking about citizen journalism in reference to Hip-Hop. Although Hip-Hop journalism is a niche market, there have been only a few occasions of non-journalists with their phones on at a significant point of an artist’s life.  The main case that comes to mind is the death of XXXTentacion, which occurred this summer. The late rapper was shopping at a motorcycle shop in Florida, and a car blocked his path. The occupants of the car got out, stole his Louis Vuitton bag, and shot him. The first reporters on the scene were pedestrians, who heard the shots and came over. Video of him unconscious and bleeding in his car quickly took to Twitter, leading to speculation as to whether or not they were real. The videos of him in the car are graphic and viewer discretion is advised.

(XXXTentacion death videos)

It was not for another hour and a half that he would be declared dead by the county sheriff’s office. Some outlets such as TMZ and XXL broke the news of death then on twitter.

With the advancements of social media and the fact that a majority of cell phones have recording capabilities, it is safe to say that citizen journalism is going nowhere. However, the necessity for it in Hip-Hop community has yet to really be revealed. For one thing, the community of Hip-Hop itself is fairly connected. The media outlets that report on news in this community have enough connections to find out breaking news, usually before it drops anywhere else. One example is TMZ dropping the news of Mac Miller’s death in September.

Another argument against needing citizen journalists is that many rappers often break their own news. Most artists in the Hip-Hop community control their own social media accounts, interact with fans themselves, and posting their own content. Since social media can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, artists are always able to stay connected to rebuke any false claims and share their thoughts with their followers. One example is when Vince Staples said in an interview that he thought the 90’s were overrated.

One Twitter user then tried to speak on music in north Long Beach, CA, where Staples is from.

On the other hand, simply because citizen journalism might not be necessary right now in Hip-Hop, does not mean that it should not exist. There are plenty of times where audience members are the only ones besides the artists who even have a clue as to what happened at a certain show or event. If Hip-Hop continues to grow like it has been for the last 10 years, it will be too big to not rely, at least a little bit, on citizen journalists.