Vince Staples deals in pessimism, for good reason. The Long Beach, Calif., rapper has seen a lot of violence and despair in his 21 years. He’ll tell you about it, too, in unflinching clarity that few artists his age possess. There’s little, if any, hope in his music. Yet even with the darkness oozing out of the pores of his songs, they remain eminently listenable and enthralling.
From quitting a life of gangbanging to starting his music career loosely affiliated with the Odd Future collective, Staples’ grit and ever-evolving flows carved a niche for him through mixtapes like the “Shyne Coldchain” series and the Mac Miller-produced “Stolen Youth.” It wasn’t until his deal with Def Jam that Staples truly honed his sound, resulting in 2014’s more-than-promising “Hell Can Wait” EP and, now, his first album.
“Summertime ’06” isn’t like other debuts—it’s a two-disc, 20-song effort that pummels with hard-hitting rhymes and minimal but potent arrangements. While its producers include Clams Casino, DJ Dahi and Christian Rich (a duo, not a person, BTW), it’s Ernest “No I.D.” Wilson, an affiliate of Kanye West and Common, who leaves his mark throughout the album, lending production credits to 15 of the 20 tracks. The beats are as brooding as the subject matter: stabs of bass and sinister synths (especially on “Lift Me Up”) puncture each track, along with the clanging drums on “Birds & Bees” or the horror-film gospel choir that serves as the backdrop of highlight “Jump off the Roof.”
For his part, Staples is consistently dour but able to craft a wholly compelling image. “I ain’t never ran from nothin’ but the police,” he chants on “Norf Norf.” It’s one of those remarkably vivid, concise lines that evokes so much with so little. Despite his deft wordplay and harsh voice’s ability to bend to each syllable and skeletal beat, the consistently depressing tone of the album becomes redundant, especially for a 20-song effort. When there is a change of pace, like side one closer “Summertime,” it feels unformed and awkward.
In a world where popular rappers branch out from just spitting bars (see: Kendrick Lamar or Chance the Rapper’s respective genre-bending masterpieces or A$AP Rocky crooning on his last album), Vince Staples is refreshing for playing just to his strengths. More than 57 minutes of unrelenting rhymes and desolate tales from the street, “Summertime ’06” is not an easy ride. And maybe it shouldn’t be.
In concert: July 18 at Pitchfork Music Festival
3 stars (out of four)
jterry@redeyechicago.com | @joshhterry
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