Vince Staples – Cry Baby

It’s no secret that Vince Staples is a man of many talents. Alongside his successful and largely acclaimed recording career, Staples has landed multiple acting roles, fronted an eponymous Netflix comedy series, and still found time for philanthropy.  As a skilled lyricist and versatile MC, he’s proven himself adept at a range of styles within Hip Hop, moving effortlessly from the trap beats of his early career to the more cinematic boom bap-influenced sounds of 2024’s Dark Times.

Unsurprisingly, the restless Staples has seen fit to shift gears again with Cry Baby, his seventh full-length—and first for new label, Loma Vista. To brand Cry Baby as Staples’ rock album, however, feels reductive at best. Yes, it has guitars, noisy ones at that, but there is so much more to Cry Baby lyrically, thematically, and even musically, that exemplifies the very best of Hip Hop.

Sonically, Cry Baby has the energy, groove and beats of a classic Danger Mouse production. Superficially, the high-tempo jams drip with fun, but Staples isn’t here to party: alternating between rage (“Blackberry Marmalade”) and fatigue (“White Flag”), with a side of dark humour, his verses skewer societal injustices in modern America. It’s a sharp polemic, flawlessly delivered, that never feels preachy, exaggerated, or unreasonable.

On that final point, I find it fascinating how often Cry Baby has been called subversive. As an outsider looking at America, I don’t quite get this sense listening to it. On the standout “Go! Go! Gorilla,” Staples pleads, “Why can’t you just talk to me? My life is inside your hands/Can you protect it? Am I being harassed or arrested?” This sentiment is powerful, sensible, and utterly undeniable. Lines like this shouldn’t be seen as controversial, outrageous, or subversive. Perhaps the fact that they are perceived this way highlights just how important and timely Cry Baby is.

Cry Baby is out now via Loma Vista.