Tempers flare up
when it gets too hot, and when that happens, violence often too quickly
follows. Long Beach rapper Vince Staples has seen this time and time again in
his 22 years, and his debut album, Summertime
'06, chronicles a summer he describes as the beginning of the end of
everything he thought he knew.
Laidback summer
listening this isn't, but while the album definitely paints everything with an
ominous brush, it is also an extraordinarily rewarding piece of art that
introduces the masses to one of hip-hop's most vital new voices.
The sonic palette
employed throughout the 20 tracks is skeletal and eerie, and only rarely does producer
No I.D. let the music get away from percussion and synth undercurrents. This
sound can be extremely catchy when he wants it to – for proof, check out
"Jump off the Roof," which is one of the handful of songs to feature
any kind of traditional verse-chorus structure – but is more often used to
build a soundscape that almost invokes 80's horror films (just listen to "Norf Norf," to see what I mean). This commitment to mood makes the album more
than a little unsettling at times, which entirely the point.
Staples' voice
and words are front and center here, and he doesn't waste a syllable on
anything other than his truths. There are no radio grabs about the club, women
or jewelry to be found on the album – instead, it is the grim and violent world
he and so many like him struggle to transcend on a daily basis. At times
Staples' voice is a bemused sneer, others a deadened drawl, but not once does
he rap without anything less than full sincerity. And he can be motherfucking
scary when he wants to – just check out "Dopeman," which is utterly
threatening without Staples having to anything to his voice, other than use a monotone.
There's a certitude to his delivery and
lyrics that makes the listener damn sure every image Staples creates is
something he has seen with his own eyes.
There's almost a
journalist's attention to detail and the biggr picture in Staples' rhymes. Take
first single (I use that term loosely, because it doesn't sound like any other
single you'll hear on the radio) "Senorita," where he raps, "My
nigga just focus, I'm tryin' to paint you a picture/We stuck in the moment/My
burner gets stuck if I shoot it too much/So a nigga resorted to domin'/That's
somebody's son but a war to be won." He's not trying to convince his
audience of the things he's seen, or imbue them with some kind of nobility, and
he doesn't need to – it's all there in his words and delivery.
One of the most
interesting things about the album is the reliance on female vocals to
interplay with Staples' voice. There are just a few guests here, and probably
the most well-known is Jhené Aiko, an R&B songstress who usually provides
the smooth hooks for people like Drake. "Lemme Know," the song she
guests on here, is almost the exact opposite of every song she usually does,
and it's fantastic. She raps along with Staples, providing a kind of reflector for
his verses, and they both let the chorus take care of itself. Kilo Kish also
shows up on the hooks to a couple of songs, but they're not soothing by any
means. The women Staples surrounds himself with ask just as many questions as
he does, and there are no easy answers to their questions either.
Staples is smart
enough to know there are no easy answers – if, indeed, there are any at all –
in trying to find meaning amidst the violence and vice surrounding him, but
there might be some solace in sharing his stories. By doing so, Staples
achieves a kind of transcendence. "I tell it like it is, then how it could
be," he raps at the beginning of "Like It Is." An artist with a
story to tell is here – listen up.
Summertime'06 is
out on Def Jam.
Also recommended this week:
The Internet
makes a strong case they are the best soul group we have on Ego Death.
Miguel's cosmic ode to fucking, Wildheart.
Meek Mill's
long-awaited sophomore album, Dreams
Worth More Than Money.
Joy Williams moves
on from The Civil Wars with VENUS.
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