Hip-hop fans looking for a pleasant diversion should look to someone other than Vince Staples.
“Listening to this music shouldn’t be like, ‘This feels like a good time,'” said Staples, 21, who joins Odd Future MC Earl Sweatshirt for a concert at Concord Music Hall on Sunday, March 29.
Rather, the Long Beach, California-born rapper, who landed a pair of scene-stealing guest features on Common’s latest, “Nobody’s Smiling,” fills his 2014 Def Jam debut “Hell Can Wait” with street-level tales as cold and unforgiving as city pavement — qualities not usually associated with a person who giddily admits to binge-watching the first season of “Digimon.”
The attention to detail in your songs is fairly astonishing. Do you view yourself as a documentarian of sorts?
I guess that’s a good word to describe it. I feel like one thing that lacks in music — especially in urban music — is a real explanation of the scenery. A lot of people might not understand why certain things happen in certain environments, and I feel like as artists, to get people to understand us, those details are very important.
You’ve stated in other interviews that the purpose of your music is to make people feel uncomfortable.
It’s not comfortable to see someone go through hell. And that’s all I mean by that. The music should be a reflection of what you’re speaking on. If you’re making music about being in love, then it should make people feel like they’re in love, and bring that feeling into their heart. If you’re making music about regret and the struggle to survive, you should also feel that. Being there myself for a majority of my life, I understand it’s not fun. It’s a situation that’s full of a lot of turmoil and a lot of regret, and that has to be reflected in the music.
Who are some of those artists that made you feel uncomfortable the first time you heard them?
The crazy thing is I didn’t feel like we had much of that when I was a kid. When I was growing up, a lot of the artists were more on the glorification side of things. When we listened to 50 Cent it made us want to go kill somebody. We listened to “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” and figured he got to where he got by doing the things he was speaking on. And he was where we wanted to be. We never saw where he lost.
I read early on you were more hesitant to take an autobiographical approach.
Hell yeah. I didn’t want people to know that side of me, and I kind of became ashamed of it. As I got older, I started to understand my story was needed. I had a friend say, “I’m still waiting to hear about you,” and that hit me. Am I being fake? Am I being corny? People didn’t actually know me for me. That was a mistake on my part. I’m just glad I can share my story now.
It seems like working with Common was a fairly transformative experience for you. What did you take away from working with him?
I learned about expectations in music, and I learned about where you come from and what you can become. A lot of people don’t know Common comes from the exact same background I do, if not worse. And he’s the voice of Microsoft now. It shows me I can be something one day if I really apply myself. You’re not defined by your current situation.
You once said “nobody is hard 24/7.” What’s something about you that might surprise people? Are you a closet Belieber? Do you love “Mean Girls”?
Man, for one, “Beethoven” and “Back to the Future” are two of the best movies of all time. I thought I was a Power Ranger for a large majority of elementary school. You couldn’t tell me different. I went to see the “Pokemon” movie with my mom and sat on the floor because there were no seats. I just watched the full first season of “Digimon” on Netflix six months ago. That was my [bleep]. We skateboarded. We had scooters. I had friends who raced remote control cars. People are human, bro. And I hate it when rappers try to pretend we’re not human. You’re not mad and tough 24/7. You have to like some things.
It sounds like you’ve had that answer bottled up inside for weeks.
Every time there’s an interview it’s like, “Hey, bro, I don’t mean to disrespect you, but have you ever killed anyone?” I understand, and it’s because a lot of people haven’t been to these areas or to these places. But we’re well-rounded human beings, and I think I put that on display in my music, too.
Andy Downing is a RedEye special contributor. @andydowning33
Vince Staples, 5:30 p.m. March 29 at Concord Music Hall. $28.50.
