Feverish rap that reveals the inner turmoil of American society.
“America the Beautiful / I like to take a look at you,” is how Vince Staples outlines the content of his new album on his song “Only In America”. Its title suggests how the Long Beach-born rapper feels after a thorough examination of the state of his country: CRY BABY. While Staples embarked on a ruthless introspection of his crime and poverty-stricken self on his last, widely praised album DARK TIMES, CRY BABY now focuses primarily on the outside.
This is also accompanied by a change in sound: Staples no longer mumbles his way through the lines, but raps with a clarity that matches the analytical demands, without slogans and always intelligently. And the beats also gain in independence, delve into rocky realms and, in their feverish confusion, underline the diagnosis of a US society pulsating with internal tensions that threatens to slide straight into chaos.
Vince Staples witnesses this disruption from the window ledge – knowing full well that he cannot escape it.