Vince Staples
Summertime ’06
Reviewed by: Patrick Griffin
In the summer of 2006, Long Beach California rapper Vince Staples was 13-years-old. This is also the apparent time the events on this album take place. More recently Vince Staples has built a decent sized buzz through features and his well received EP Hell Can Wait, released October of last year. Summertime ’06 is his ambitious double disc debut album and a follow up to the EP released last year.
The album is supposed to be a view of Vince Staples’ world and lifestyle growing up in Long Beach. Summertime ’06 starts off with the track “Lift Me Up” which puts you right in the middle of the action, setting the tone for the rest of the album. “Norf Norf” is one of the more aggressive tracks on the album. Staples has a very distinct voice and is good at switching his flows and vocal tones when needed from frantic and animated to low-key and monotone. Of course this is only bolstered by production from No I.D and Clams Casino who handle the bulk of the production for a cohesive sound. Often dark in atmosphere at times layered and lush other times more sparse the beats are a clear highlight on this album.
Summertime ’06 does falter, however, due to the sheer length of the album. The second half of the first disc is pretty underwhelming. Either the beats are lack luster even though the rhymes are there or vice versa. Aside from “Jump Off The Roof” which has a nice skittering beat, the album definitely has more filler. The second disc is a smoother ride from front to back and while it continues the same street themes throughout, it sees Staples doing a little more soul searching. On the track “Might Be Wrong” he sees everything that’s happening around him and begins to second guess the lifestyle he’s living and the choices he’s making. The very next track is “Get Paid” which is the exact opposite sentiment of the prior song, it sports one of the flat out best instrumentals on the whole album and of course Staples devours the beat lyrically. “Like it Is” is one of the deepest cuts on the album in which he goes in on wanting to break out of the lifestyle he’s living and talks about how basically you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Vince Staples is a very good rapper and he came through with a solid debut album- one with interesting and layered production, vivid lyricism and a diverse array of vocal deliveries. That said, the album is a bit one-dimensional and there’s not a whole lot of contrast or commentary or conflict to go with these themes. Then again, thirteen your world view isn’t going to be all that broad. It’s also not as concise as it could be over it’s hour run time. Had he condensed the album down it would’ve been much stronger. As a whole, there’s more than enough reason to give this album a few listens as you’re sure to get replay value from a lot of the music here.
Rating: Listenable
