This thirty-something Californian has ticked all the boxes to become a bad boy. His father was in and out of prison and his mother was swamped by odd jobs. Raised by his grandparents, he lost his grandmother when he was 12. So he flirted with delinquency, one of his friends was shot dead and he himself had to move away for several months to get away from the gangs. It was almost by chance that, on the advice of producer Michael Uzowuru, he found salvation in music. His mixtapes and other appearances led to him being signed to the famous Def Jam label, and his debut album in 2015 received rave reviews.
As with his previous productions, Vince Staples offers us modern rap, in the sense that the music owes more to the keyboards and the studio than to the turntables. There are no scratches or looped samples here, but don’t expect any raunchy melodies either. This is a rather downtempo record compared to the rap that the media promote, and it owes as much to hip-hop as to trip-hop. Some passages even create atmospheric ambiences. If we have to compare the artist’s flow to that of well-known rappers, it’s close to that of Snoop Dog, with a good dose of sensuality thrown in.
Like most rap albums, ‘Dark Times’ explores the lower frequencies in particular. That said, it does so with great smoothness and roundness. The studio work creates a fusion between the music and the singer’s warm voice, which is surrounded by a heady cocoon. The soundstage is well exploited, in keeping with the flawless quality of the production, which allows for a few original touches by inserting spoken voices or environmental noise without the unity of the album suffering. Another fine confirmation of Vince Staples’ talent.