Vince Staples on Tour

Ice Cube. Snoop. Tupac. Kendrick. No roll call of the best L.A. MCs is complete without those names, and if you talk to discerning hip-hop heads today, they’ll tell you Vince Staples deserves to be the next entry on that lofty list. The Compton-born rapper and former member of the notorious Crips gang first surfaced in the early 2010s as a satellite player in the ever-expansive Odd Future universe, turning up on a couple of tracks by resident OF eccentric Earl Sweatshirt. Following a collaborative mixtape with producer Mac Miller, Stolen Youth, in 2013, Staples signed on with legendary rap imprint Def Jam Recordings and dropped his debut EP, Hell Can Wait, the following year. With its siren-like synth squeals and dry, chiseled beat, the EP’s lead single “Blue Suede” thrust a wider audience into Staples’ grim streetscapes and ice-cold commentaries on the harsh realities of thug life. He ramped up the intensity on his critically acclaimed 2015 double album, Summertime ‘06, where the stark, nocturnal production on tracks like “Norf Norf” and “Señorita” amplified the desperation and despair in Staples’ rhymes. But his guest appearance on the electro-adrenalized Gorillaz track “Ascension” betrayed a willingness to step outside the confines of minimalist street rap. Though it features cameos from peers like Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky, Staples’ bold 2017 album Big Fish Theory tapped the beatmaking expertise of SOPHIE, Flume and Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver), while guest vocals from Damon Albarn and Kilo Kish introduced a melodic levity. Staples’ 2018 release FM! further entrenched his reputation as one of the most ambitious, creatively restless forces in modern hip-hop, with the rapper organizing the songs around a radio-show framework — “hosted” by famed L.A. on-air personality Big Boy — that reinforces the dial-spinning eclecticism of Staples’ ever-evolving musical aesthetic.