Summertime '06 is widely considered to be one of hip hop's many interesting albums of the year. Vince Staples' take on gang-infested California culture was unique and refreshing, and the record is tinder for plenty of socio-political conversations. "More black kids killed from a pill than the FEDs in the projects / In the planned parenthood playin' God with ya mom's check, you ain't even been to prom yet," comes to mind...
Staples has been making headlines recently over some comments he had about 90s-era hip hop. While this may be one of Vince's first quotes to go viral, it's hardly the first time he displayed some interesting opinions during an interview.
The Cali-born MC makes thought-provoking music, but he's also dropping lines in his interview that are deeper than your average rap record. We've compiled these brainy quotes to highlight some of Vince's thoughts and theories.
On experiencing music
"The thing that makes you love anything artistically [or] culturally, is the experiences you had while you experienced the product...I don't know what it felt like when 'NY State of Mind' first dropped, you get what I'm saying? But I know what it felt like when 'Drop It Like It's Hot' first dropped."
Vince Staples was on Sway In The Morning to clarify the 90s comments. Per usual, the blogosphere blew a small opinion out of proportion, and Staples was able to clarify. Vince is too young to remember when 90s rap first came out, and thus feels a stronger connection to the rap of the early 2000s.
"But, I mean, if life is really really bad, does that mean the music's going to be really bad? If life's really really good, does that mean the music is really good? No. Some people make their best music when life is horrible. Some people lose sense of what their music was when their life starts to get better."
There's a reason that many rappers never top their debut album. The uncomfortable struggles of life can often times squeeze out an artist's best work, and once they're forced to make new music in a comfortable atmosphere it can seem bland in comparison. Vince said earlier in this interview with NPR, that he "refuse[s] to label anything as good or bad."
"My job is not for the radio. My job is not for sales. My job is to keep my sanity. Period. I can't do nothing else. I never got a bad grade in my life except for when I was in 10th grade, because I saw what it was. The first time I got arrested was for nothing."
In that same interview with NPR, Vince opened up big time about his trouble with the law as a 13-year old. If you care to see where the young MC is coming from, check out the entire quote on the player below.
"Everything's a competition nowadays and it's just not fair to kids that don't have money. Imagine a kid who doesn't have any money, who doesn't have nice clothes. What does their Instagram look like? That's what we measure each other by. You know what I mean? Poor parents can't afford to get them a smart phone."
No one knows what the longterm effects of social media will be. It's too new to our culture. Here's one point of view from our subject, said during an interview with Brooklyn Vegan. Vince is conscious of the lower class and what the lack of boast-worthy Instagram content may do to an impoverished youth's confidence.
"You are shaped by environment. Some people don't have the resources to escape where they're from. You go to other 'hoods, and they have other outlets for youth – the YMCA, Boy and Girl Scouts, park and recreation leagues. Where I come from, you have gangs. It's all Crips and Bloods -- there was no alternative."
You can't get too far into Vince's music without mentioning gangs. His double-disc LP was all about coming of age in a gang-riddled environment. In an interview with Chicago Tribute, Staples opens up about where he comes from.
"For me, music was never like a dream or none of that other shit that people try to say. It’s more of an everyday thing than something that I would look at as an art form. My knowledge has improved since, but I still look at music in the same way."
The general feeling from financially sustainable artists is one of absolute gratitude. Usually they say something to the tune of, "It's a dream come true." Vince, on the other hand, didn't share that sentiment in his Pitchfork interview. It's worth noting that in the aforementioned interview with NPR, Vince said that music came about in a way like, "I can be over here and hang out and stay out of trouble if I just make some songs." It was a stay-out-of-trouble tactic.
"Listeners don’t take a lot of rappers seriously because rappers don’t take themselves seriously. And, to be honest, the majority of these dudes are lying. It’s not even that they’re just lying—because you can lie all day in your music and tell a story—they’re assholes who walk around like they don’t have any connection with the people. A lot of music comes from a selfish place, but there’s no sense of self within it."
Which rappers do you think Vince is talking about in this quote from the Pitchfork interview? I bet you can think of a few...
"We’re all people, dude; no one’s fucking important or no one’s special. We’re regular people who are lucky enough to have people care about where we come from and care about who we are. We’re not better than a bum sitting playing with a guitar; we’re just on a higher scale. We’re sharing how we feel in a musical format, and people decide if they want to give [us] money or not."
Along the same lines as the Pitchfork quote, Staples had some humble words for Stereogum. He's a regular dude that doesn't get caught up in the frills of fame.
