Vince Staples doesn’t miss. His latest album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart is yet another showcase of how he’s mastered the art of creating cohesive bodies of work. It’s a process that he’s grown familiar with throughout the years working with different collaborators, including Mac Miller. Mac, under the moniker Larry Fisherman, produced Vince’s Stolen Youth – a breakout moment that shed a spotlight on the then-budding California rapper.
During our recent conversation with Vince for our forthcoming cover story, he explained that his relationship with Mac went deeper than simply music. "Mac, I never really played Mac music. That was my friend. Mac gave me a lot of opportunities at the beginning of my career. He helped me learn how to do certain things from the Stolen Youth point in time, while we were creating. Kind of taught me a lot about creating music. But as far as playing music and that, we honestly didn’t have that relationship," he says. Despite how pivotal of a role Mac played in Vince’s career, the "Magic" rapper admits that there wasn’t shop talk whenever they were around each other. "The funny thing about Mac is there is no such thing as constructive criticism with Mac. Just ‘cause he’s overwhelmingly positive and is such a fan of the creative process. So to be honest, if I was to try to play Mac anything, he would’ve just liked it because he just loves music."
Vince Staples digital cover - Photo by Zamar Velez for HNHH
When he does look for feedback, Vince says that ScHoolboy Q, who he worked with on songs like "Ride Out," always lends an ear. Q’s heard every single one of Vince’s projects to date (with the exception of Vince Staples because of COVID) before the public.
"Q will tell you if he likes something, if he didn’t like something," Vince continued. "He’s not very wordy so he’s like, ‘it’s cool.’ He liked it. So, that’s always a good thing to hear. I go to Q kind of to hear what he doesn’t like more than what he does and he didn’t seem to have many complaints so I was happy about that."
Keep your eyes peeled for our cover story with Vince Staples, arriving Monday, April 18. Until then, check out our album review here.
