Staples wins released his new album, Dark Timeswhich is also the latest for the historic Def Jam label.
It’s definitely his most essential work yet, it’s full of feeling and probably won’t be an easy listen.
Vince Staples’ reflections on the new album Dark Times
Vince Staples announced the new project, released today, just a week before its release, and didn’t opt for any of the typical hype-inducing prereleases that listeners are accustomed to in the streaming age.
As the title suggests, Dark Times, was an opportunity for Vince Staples to stop and reflect on what his experience has been. The delicacy of the sound of the environment, and of the sounds of the birds, of Close Your Eyes and Swingwhich opens the album, is interrupted by the splendid sample of Weak for Your Love of the The Sacred Souls in Black&Bluewhere Vince agonizingly recites lines such as:
Buckle the seatbelt, so many want me to crash and die
Who can I call when I need help? Jugglin’ thuggin’ and passion and pride
In Government Cheese he talks about the disappointment he felt after a call he received from an incarcerated friend. And the verse is so beautiful and heartfelt that perhaps it is better to report it, almost in full, without adding anything.
I got a call the other day
From my partner on the four yard in Pelican Bay
Popped his pistol once and them people put him away
Promised him he would never get to see the light of day
Asked how I was, said he saw me on ABC
Told him that I was good, wonder if he believed
Couldn’t tell him the truth, what kind of homie would I be?
Knowin’ these fifteen minutes the only time that he free
This ends with the sad awareness of the sense of guilt of the one who managed to make it, not only financially, while his friends and the people around him did not make it, and it is a state of mind that emerged well in a confrontation between Zerocalcare and her friend Sara in the series This world won’t make me badwhich you can find here.
See, it’s hard to sleep when you the only one livin’ the dream
Hard to leave niggas hangin’ when you the money tree
There is also space for a dedication to music in Radioin which he mentions Radio Of Eazy-Eand in which he indulges in thanks for Nelly, his favorite rapper until he reached seventh gradeand for Below the Heavens Of Blue & Exileand ends with him deep in his feelings, listening to Etta James and Amy (Winehouse), waiting for the day they bring Michael and his brothers back to him (The Jackson 5).
In the second part of the album there is more mention of anguish in relationships, and it also does so using an interlude in Liars which samples a 1971 interview between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin, to highlight how people should show their best selves to their partners.
Dark Times it’s also the final album in his 10-year deal with UMG, in which Staples takes stock of a career that recently includes a Netflix show (The Vince Staples Show of 2023), which awaits confirmation for a second season. ‘I was given an opportunity as a teenager by Def Jam and Universal, so I’m very grateful for that’he said in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Imbued with soulful and sad and emotional thoughts, Dark Times it’s a fantastic snapshot of melancholy.
You can find it at the link below.
