Vince Staples - Dark Times
Dark Times might not be the boldest statement in Staples' six-album catalog so far, but it is his most successful foray into the downtrodden bleak conscious hip-hop field.
Vince's presence as a lyrical standout is a wide-ranging one. The breakout albums that defined him as a hitmaker for the experimental trap genre, Summertime '06 and Big Fish Theory, showed that Vince was an up-and-comer who grew to the top of his game with widespread commercial and critical acclaim. He's covered multiple styles throughout his growing discography, from commercial trap with an experimental edge, to his unique spin on radio hits on the album FM!, to his most recent projects, in which the storyteller side within Vince shines under dark and almost minimalist instrumentals. Out of all the eras within his career, I think it's safe to say that the run of "low-key" projects from Staples has been a bit hit or miss for fans. For one, I still enjoy returning to the short and replayable self-titled album, in which Vince experiments with melody, delivery, and subject matter, all filtered through a quiet atmosphere that producer Kenny Beats expertly arranges throughout its 23 minutes. On the other hand, Ramona Park Broke My Heart was a heftier offering of the similar downtrodden raps of his previous albums but with more mixed results. It had me wondering with this new album if he would continue down this route while making his sound varied enough and more original where fans can keep themselves emotionally engaged.
Despite my initial skepticism for this album being as shot as it is and continuing down the same path that he's been on for the past two releases, Dark Times is not only the rapper's most holistic offering within this field but also an incredibly conscious and emotionally touching release that focuses its time exploring the darkness to Vince's uprising. A majority of this album is written from the real-time perspectives of his unconventional upbringing in the concrete neighborhoods in Long Beach, expanding and acknowledging how becoming a product of your environment shapes the way you live and serves as the backbone of how you succeed. Throughout the runtime of this project, Vince centers most of his lyrics on regret, sin, and how the streets meld the walls closer between his personal life and his career, claiming that he must do certain things because the way he was raised was not by choice.
The opening track, Black&Blue, is a sleek tone setter for the album. The aura within the track almost feels like Vince is rapping alone in a dark, secluded room with various echoes surrounding him, making his lyrical delivery equally bleak and haunting. The instrumental that backs it up is a conventional, yet smooth boom-bap beat that gives just enough space for Vince's lyrics to do the heavy lifting, without feeling too distant from the core song. Plus the harmonies and samples interlaced through the chorus give the song a near-unrecognizable sense of charm to keep some familiarity of Vince's sound within the mix. Government Cheese and Children's Song follow the opening track with some more chilled-out, under-the-mix production while Vince is spitting out words of caution both from his own life and to the lives of people who run in his path. Some of the lyrics slowly begin to peel back the emotional core that guides Vince through his lyrical journey, a center that is filled with both wisdom and paranoia, pacifism and sin, pure love and sick lies, self-preservation, and innocence.
Then Shame on the Devil contains one of my favorite choruses of the year. The harmonized background vocals mismatched with Vince's low, almost mumbly voice following the same melody convey an underlying sense of hopelessness that resonates with me, unlike any other song I've heard from him. The verses that back up refer to the love, loss, lies, and paranoia he's experienced from his upbringing to his commercial success within the industry, expressing a sentiment that for all the wrong he's been forced to endure, god will still turn him "into an angel." Probably the biggest standout lyrical to me is when he states, "Beef with my closest of friends and made no amends, I'd rather kill him instead. Out of all of the rumors to spread, You pick the one that's gon' get us some fed timе."
The second half of the project shows Vince in a similar light, only this time we see him on the other side where his commercial acclaim is in front of him, yet he still reminisces on the innocence he yearns for. Every song on this half of the album feels like Vice is trying his best to reach forward from the position he's at to keep being dragged down by thoughts of the streets, the well-being of his friends and family, the relationships he's had, and the existentialism that plagues his mind. It's a very welcome change of pace for an album that doesn't try to overstate its welcome, but not every result works as effectively. The abrupt ending of the song Justin, in which Vince recalls meeting a girl who takes him back to her place, only to find out that she's already in a committed relationship, doesn't work advantageously to the emotional gut punch that Vince tries to convey. In fact, when re-listening to the project, this track does fit in well thematically but almost forces its way into the tracklist, as the transition from this track to the following "Radio" doesn't have the natural flow that I was expecting. Nothing Matters is also a track that has me scratching my head. Some of the lyrics on this song could have easily fitted onto a track like Justin which would give it the more cohesive and enveloping edge it needed, but this also feels like another rehashing of the same ideas that previous tracks achieved so well.
And then the closing track, Why Won’t the Sun Come Out?, wraps everything up into a three-minute monologue which while I respect Vince for placing a bookend on everything that came before it, there could have been a more captivating and emotionally hitting way to end the journey. This closer didn't make me feel any different at the end compared to when I first hit play. I appreciate lyrical gems that transport me to a different atmosphere, get me enveloped in the themes that surround it, and come out the other end feeling re-emerged as a different listener. And by the time this album finished, I really wished I had that same sense of progression. Overall, this is yet another quality release in the Vince Staples catalog and if the downtrodden style of delivery and production is what works well for him and his fans, then I'm happy too. I guess I would've loved it to be more robust and consistent given the sequencing of tracks and I wish the closer hit me harder than it intended. Plus there were a few loose ends or unfinished ideas that did need some cleaning up. But otherwise, this is his best album within the "bleak era" of his studio discography, and I still believe there's room to push the envelope further.
Favorite Tracks: Black&Blue, Children’s Song, Radio, Shame on the Devil, Étouffée, Government Cheese
Least Favorite: Why Won’t the Sun Come Out?
7.5/10
