With a plethora of rappers already delivering scathing, eloquent attacks on the crushing nature of 21st century US racism – from Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ to Jay-Z‘s ‘4:44’, Joey Bada$$‘ ‘All Amerikkkan Bada$$’ to Run The Jewels‘ ‘RTJ4’ – there’s a danger that projects centred around the nation’s hostile, discriminatory foundations tread old ground. However, that’s not an accusation that can be levelled at Vince Staples’ new album, ‘Cry Baby’, his first since leaving Def Jam Recordings and going independent in 2024.
Set against gripping rock-rap sonics, the album is a blistering response to the heightened atmosphere of violence and racial tension permeating American society, and a firm suggestion that Staples is relishing the additional freedom and capacity for political expression created by that label switch.
In the album’s defining moments, the California rapper turns on the defining institutions and symbols of the United States. In the powerful video for ‘White Flag’, he rolls bright white paint over a star-spangled banner, cutting a resigned but meditative figure while the line “White flag, I don’t wanna fight no more” plays out over a moody beat; then he shoots the flag to pieces with an automatic rifle. On ‘The Running Man’, his voice is urgent: he references East Coast legends Mobb Deep (“There’s a war going on outside that no man is safe from”) and rises to this moment of domestic conflict with energised lyrics: “Bout time for a revolution / Dark times for the melanated”.
Across the project, Staples rarely strays from this mission. Lead single ‘Blackberry Marmalade’ is accompanied by a video portraying a racist shooting that’s so absurdly casual you can’t miss its critique of the country’s modern norms. Lyrics like “Don’t let it get to you / Just know that they miserable / And know that behind every smile / They’re thinking about killing you” help drive home the message. There are also more playfully curated odes to Black cultural innovation: ‘The Big Bad Wolf’ is laced with an Anderson .Paak-esque swagger and built around a chopped-up sample of Slick Rick’s ‘Children’s Story’ (“Once upon a time not long ago / Cops shot the kid, cops shot the kid”) that even against the funky background helps underline the painfully slow social change experienced since the ’80s explosion of US hip-hop.
These messages are elevated by the record’s coherent punkishness; it carries a sense of rough anti-establishment energy and passionate political expression that most rappers of Staples’ position would struggle to authentically muster. That spontaneous, rebellious spirit draws power from a compressed, crunchy sound built around screeching guitars and thick, bassy undertones.
‘Cry Baby’ is a shift from the dry-witted, avant-garde brand of hip-hop with self-effacing bars delivered over janky, synth-guided beats that Staples has perfected. And yet, for this versatile and undeniably honest storyteller, it doesn’t feel like a departure. The album shows a fresh side to Vince Staples, and the prospect of him building on its piercing, riotous political gaze is extremely enticing.
