Vince Staples - Prima Donna

Vince Staples
Prima Donna EP
2016
Spotify

After the highly successful Summertime '06 all the pressure in the world was on Vince Staples. He was guesting on electronic albums, playing huge festivals and seemed to bridge any gap there may be between fans of different genres. You are really hard pressed to find anyone who does not like Vince Staples. It is refreshing to hear someone speak their art so clearly like Vince does. Nothing on this new EP Prima Donna feels forced in any way, it rolls out in a completely natural way. Vince's worming style of hip hop slides more than it does hit, it creeps up on you slowly whispering in your ear rather than bashing you over the head. Though at times he does not shy away from a confrontation like on "Loco" where it seems Vince is ready to call out the world. His references are so diverse where one moment He is talking about getting high with friends then drops a James Joyce line. He is just on another level of getting weird reminicent of early Outkast which is why it is not shocking when Andre 3000 pops up on "War Ready".

For Vince to come with an EP this diverse after his last record shows just how many risks He is willing to take. There is really nothing on this record with some kind of pop appeal, at all, Throughout little intros, interludes and outros happen which sound like Vince is recording them while laying under some trees in a park. Just a flood of thoughts and emotions through off key singing, it really is odd yet somehow incredibly cool. The only time the creative juices stop flowing is on "Big Time" produced by Jame Blake. This is hands down the weakest track and the lyrics are amateurish at best. Not to say that these two working together could not produce some incredible stuff, but this track feels like the worst of both with a Jamie xx sample that is wildly out of place. Save for that one ending misstep Prima Donna really is something great from a rapper that is quickly making a claim for one of the most creative in the game. Watch out world, Vince is coming, and He ain't slowing down.

8.0 out of 10