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outcastswithlavishstories-b-blog · 9 years ago

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Norf, Norf... a story of Life in North Side Long Beach by Vince Staples

I find myself in a very unique place in life. I am in a position to just explore, and I’ve never been more curious. I find ideas rippling off each other and leading me to new places of thought all the time, while doing this I needed something to ground me. Music, and the act of listening to it, remains a critical therapeutic process for me throughout the exploration of all these new avenues.

Outcasts has been quiet. We missed reviews on some extremely pivotal albums… Kendrick, J Cole, I apologize. But, now, finally, I find myself in a position to sit back down and write again. If you have been following us, welcome back. If this is your first time reading, I go by Jamm and I love the art of good music.

This is my first review, since my return to the critique world, and I found myself more engaged than ever. When Quid and myself decided that we were going to do this I said that I would review Vince Staples Summertime 06. It’s all I had been bumping since it leaked, over a week ago. I figured I could knock out a good review, and fire this thing up pretty quickly. As I listened to the album one last time, I was inspired; the pictures that were painted by Vince were becoming clearer. I love this album, and it couldn’t have worked out better that this marks the return of Outcasts With Lavish Stories.

If you are reading this you are probably a hip hop fanatic (Outcasts isn’t exactly a mainstream thing yet), which means you know who Vince Staples is, or you are Vince Staples, which would be dope. If somehow you got lost in tumblr and ended up here, Vince Staples is a 21 year old, Crippin’, North Long Beach native, and he reps hard. Vince has the unique ability to paint a vivid picture of life in his environment. With imagery so real it’s as if you were in the car with him on a ride through Poppy Street. Summertime 06 thrives off this ability the entire project. It’s almost as if you are spending a day in the life of Vince’s world seeing everything from his eyes.

The project focuses on Vince’s experiences gang banging in California, with his take on equality, police, and society riddled throughout every song. While listening to 06, there is a struggle felt throughout. This struggle represents Vince’s battle with love for the streets versus what he has learned from the streets. I believe it is this internal battle of love that acts as a grounding force throughout the album. Vince’s story isn’t for the faint of heart, and sometimes he says things that a wide audience cannot relate to, but he adds this dynamic of love as an underlying theme to ground the listener. Love is a much more relatable force than gang banging. Vince presents the two as a philosophical debate of mind vs. body. This reminds us that Vince is still a person, like you and I, he still feels the same things, whether that be love, sadness, or pure authentism.

The production for this album is really just on point, mostly handled by NO ID. Dj Dahi and Clams Casino (shout out that surf beat) also make powerful appearances. The beats are definitely west coast utilizing the likes of congas, bells, hi-hats, snaps and pings to generate an environment for the lyrics to thrive in with extended synths, and heavy bass adding a firm backdrop appropriate for each situation. The features of the album are strategically used to perfection, it’s as if the features are characters that help move Vince’s story (which is legit, because I know a few artist that just throw big names on tracks just because, or they feature their girlfriend twice on the same project…).

This project was blessed by the likes of Jhene Aiko, Future, and Earl Sweatshirt, amongst other talented artists. Vince reps for his Cutthroat family, both Joey Fatts, and Aston Matthews make appearances, which brings another perspective of life in California. If you’ve listened to 06, then you know Vince has been Crippin’ for a long time, Cutthroat affiliate Aston Matthews comes in on Hang’N’Bang and shouts out Piru. So I had to ask myself, was there tension? I’m not an expert or anything but last time I checked Bloods and Crips weren’t cool. After reading a few interviews, it turns out that things are changing in the West. In a Hardknock interview, Joey Fatts basically said that “it doesn’t really matter as much anymore, kids are stepping back and gathering a similar mindset,” and Hang’N’Bang is a celebration of that, with the feel of a backyard roll call rap. One thing is for sure, Vince Staples reps hard for Long beach. He has even mentioned, in a Rapgenius interview, that he wants to buy a house there. Vince was also quoted in the same interview that he didn’t want to go mainstream because he Cripped too hard, which I guess makes sense, but he needs to be careful, this album has some power behind it.

I’m seeing a new poster boy for West Coast conscious gangster rap. Summertime 06 is proof that there are more rappers than Kendrick talking about real things in California. He is in a different lane than Kendrick in the sense of perspective but could be equally powerful. Kendrick explained to us that he was a good kid, in a m.A.A.d city, while Vince Staples bangs, the mad in Kendrick’s city, painting from a new perspective of the same conscious world. This creates a vividly similar picture of California. That’s the thing about hip hop, great hip hop is about painting a perspective of life with sound, whether the picture be of past, present, future, good or bad. The great rappers, the rappers that make it big, piece together a picture so engaging that it feels like you live it with them. This album does that. Like the history that shaped the California rap scene, gang banging is still relevant, and Vince does a fantastic job of taking you on a trip down his rabbit hole.

-Jamm

#review #jamm #music #rap #vince stapes #summertime06 #album #outcastswithlavishstories

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outcastswithlavishstories-b-blog · 10 years ago

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posted by Quid

#single #kyle #don't wanna fall in love #beautiful loser

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outcastswithlavishstories-b-blog · 10 years ago

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posted by Quid

#single #juicy j #a$ap ferg #future #ice #taylor gang