Album of the Year #14: Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory - HipHop | HipHop Channel

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Album of the Year #14: Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory - HipHop

Album of the Year #14: Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory - HipHop

Album of the Year #14: Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

Posted: 14 Dec 2017 02:19 PM PST

Artist: Vince Staples

Album: Big Fish Theory

Label: ARTium / Blacksmith / Def Jam

Release Date: 6/23/17

Listen:

Apple Music

Spotify

Tidal

Google Play Music

Background:

For the sake of this review and the context in which Big Fish Theory was birthed, this portion of the review is going to be dedicated to the background of this album's formation rather than Vince Staples, who needs no introduction at this point. A good amount of my information stems from this incredible interview with Zach Sekoff, which gives the most background on the creation of the album of all the pieces I've read that I recommend everyone read.

Vince's foray into experimenting with his sound and pushing himself as an artist began with last year's Prima Donna EP. A project inspired by a Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, the brooding, cold 22 minute extended play shocked fans with its electronic, experimental production and long spoken word segments. The extended play could be played forward and backward, with the gunshot at the end of Let It Shine signaling either the end or beginning of the story told within. Many fans responded with confusion and some with negativity, unable to reconcile with this change in direction and sound. The approach to suicidal thoughts, isolation, and the throes of fame fully embraced Vince's pre-existing nihilism, ramping it up more than ever before. It works perfectly as a precursor to Big Fish Theory, which took these elements and combined them with an even farther left change in production choices and its approach to the themes that make up Prima Donna.

The most critical element in the formation of Big Fish Theory was Los Angeles producer Zach Sekoff. Having known Vince previously, around the time Prima Donna was released Vince asked Sekoff to send him beats, in which Sekoff hilariously sent him what he described as "Vince Staples type beats" before spending some studio time with Vince and realizing that that sound was of the past and Vince had a different direction in mind. Sekoff notes Vince listening to a lot of Detroit house, techno, and various other electronic music, which combined with Sekoff's love for UK garage and electronics, makes up the lifeblood of Big Fish Theory. He goes in depth about Vince's hands on approach to the project, and how he pushed his own boundaries by working with producers like GTA and James Blake.

Something important to remember when analyzing the creation of this album and Vince's approach to the sound and direction is to keep Vince the media & interview personality and Vince the artist and musician separate. Vince the personality oversimplifies concepts like creating an album, how he approaches songwriting and structure, opting instead for sarcastic humor and wit. To people unfamiliar with Vince, this can come off as lack of interest in his output or that he simply raps over beats and throws them together into projects. Rather, Sekoff's interview is just one of numerous accounts of how truly hands on, focused, and involved Vince is with every element of his music. Vince the artist has a deep, true love for music and pushing his own boundaries, listening to experimental and off kilter works that influence not only his choice of sonics but his own approach and direction. Vince's music should never be taken as anything less than completely real, artistic works.

Review:

This thing called love real hard for me

This thing called love is a God to me

I remember being starstruck seeing Vince Staples perform in front of me back in March of this year for The Life Aquatic Tour. Before his set and longtime friend and collaborator Kilo Kish's opening set, the screen setup was a muted playback of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in reverse. His stage presence was unlike anything I had seen before; his cold, dead eyes staring at the audience, stalking around the stage like a predator observing his prey. Fish and aquatic images littered the huge, encompassing back screen. At one point, there were lights that spread out over the crowd that looked like moving water above us. Through the visuals, Vince continued to prowl around the stage, and with the overt aquatic imagery combined with my understanding of Bagbak and the vocal interlude, I started to piece it all together over the next few months leading up to release. The cover art for the single contained what looked like a grainy underwater shot, and taking that into consideration the interlude (which reminds me heavily of the narration of the Jaguar Shark film within the film) was the biggest indicator of what was to come:

They found it

Depth close to 3230 feet

A deep dive, but within acceptable range

3230 Poppy St. being Vince's address, it made sense. Once the album details started to come out, it finally all connected and made sense. Thus began the Big Fish Theory era.

Big Fish Theory works as two halves to a whole; the first six tracks acting as what I'll deem the "love" side and the last six acting as the "fame" side, although they are very much one and the same; two sides to the same coin. The album opens up with Crabs In a Bucket, a glitchy, gorgeous electronic piece that combined Zach Sekoff's electronic influence and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver's) synthy, pristine touch to craft one of Vince's best openers yet. The metaphor "crabs in a bucket" is something Vince has touched before on Senorita. It refers to the mentality of crabs in an actual bucket, who when trying to climb up the side are clawed down by the other crabs at the bottom, which reflects on people in a similar situation only looking out for themselves and bringing down others who begin to rise out of it or become above them. This has a double meaning, as "crab" is an insult used generally against Crips by Bloods, which Vince touched on in Senorita. Something to note especially with the production is how watery and submersed it sounds, something that runs throughout every track on the project. Everything from the percussion and bass to the vocals themselves sound submerged in water, which brings a fantastic, unique sound to the sonics throughout.

Much of the first side explores Vince's relationship with love more indepth than he has before on past works. Love Can Be, one of his most stunning and beautiful songs yet, approaches love with a nuance Vince has experienced in his rise to fame. He touches upon how money has never done him wrong where women have, which Kilo Kish's wonderful feature displays perfectly, coming across as uninterested in her partner and tired of his shit. These women Vince has been involved with want this famous lifestyle, and nothing truly lasts or has real meaning in Vince's love life. One of my favorite parts of this entire track is Ray J's fucking fantastic vocals, which when I first heard made me go crazy because it reminded me of Archangel off Burial's Untrue, an album and song I love that famously sampled Ray J's One Wish and repurposed his vocals into this heartbreaking, cold plead against a sparse, gorgeous electronic background. It's an absolutely breathtaking perfect storm, combining Vince's continued love and admiration for Ray J, and which if anyone hasn't seen Vince's incredible theory on Ray J's influence it's absolutely essential viewing, and the connection between the two sonics of each track.

One of the most critical tracks on the entire project is Alyssa Interlude, which samples an Amy Winehouse interview that was featured on Amy. The track acts perfectly as a thesis for the entire project:

Sometimes you have to get all the... all the crap out the way before you hit the good stuff and you're like "OK, I'm getting good stuff now"

But, um, uh, I had a b- I mean, the stuff I write about, what do I really write about?

I've got my weed songs and all my songs about my boy- uh, my ex-boyfriend, George

Songs about relationships that are kinda doomed from the start

You know, songs about when I fell in love and it went wrong

And I was so in love at the time, you know, I was like...

And I was with someone that I was in love with, you know what I mean? We were in love

You know what I mean? We were together, so-

When it- and that's like a real drug, isn't it? So when it- when it didn't come together, I was just like...

You know? It really hurt

But I needed enough distance from it

So that it wasn't like raw emotion anymore

But not enough distance that I'd forget

I'm quite a self-destructive person, so I guess

I guess I give myself material...

This acts so perfectly in the context of the album: it touches on love lost, and how being a self-destructive individual creates this material for her music, and how it reflects in her approach to songwriting. This reflects on Vince as well, in all these love songs he details these experiences with love he's had that have come from lost love and failed relationships, which craft some of his best work yet, but are catalyzed by this loss. This is perfectly juxtaposed with Vince's verse after, his most vulnerable and raw he's ever been alongside Summertime; this time, there is no warbled autotune on his voice, just him talking about how he misses his old love, his fear of people leaving and how he should have protected her. He is bare and naked alongside a sample of The Temptation's I Wish It Would Rain, which plays after he says the title. It works so well to further the power behind the verse, and sets up the two most important rain references that occur later in the album to have even more meaning.

The other tracks on the first half only further the themes explored. 745 is a fantastic, deep bass centered track in which Vince recounts a troubled relationship and their night out. "All my life pretty women done told me lies", a saying which touches on Vince's experience with love, even before the fame. This is paired with a deep bass that sounds completely submerged, and the synths littering the track remind me of the Donkey Kong Country Aquatic Ambience music, and only further that cold, isolated submerged feeling Vince portrays. Big Fish, on the other hand, is the only truly weak part of the entire album. It is clearly the "label radio single" of the album, and is a 'pretty good' song on a project full of fantastic songs. As I've understood the sounds Vince and Sekoff explored throughout more and more, this song makes much more sense in the context of that realm of sonics but it is still the clearly the radio single of the album. The rest of the project is incredible enough to negative the weak properties of this song, and I think it fits fine as I've spent a lot of time listening to the project. That is the only true criticism or weakness on the entire project.

Once Ramona Park Is Yankee Stadium hits, the project begins to shift into the second half. Sounds of a heavy thunderstorm envelope the track as Vince sings/raps about New York in a monotone, detached voice. The seagulls and tone of the track reflect the Ramona Park Legend Pt. ½ tracks from Summertime '06, with a different take this time. The overtness of the title reflects how Vince wears a Yankee hat, a symbol of his Crip status and upbringing, and how Ramona Park is home to this Crip presence. He wonders if New York, this city so far from his home that he wears on his body, would even know about him if he died. It's heartbreaking the way he parallels this symbol for his gang status and this city. His home in Ramona Park seems so insignificant to this huge, foreign city to him. The thunderstorm is in full force and rain has finally fallen, Vince's tears are hidden in the rain and the shift from love to fame in the second half begins.

Yeah Right is a startling shift from the dreary, depressed atmosphere of the track before and Vince's braggadocio is in full force. His rapping is accompanied by one of the most disgusting, harshest basslines I've ever heard in my entire life. It sounds so gritty and warbled, with background synths seesawing behind his rapping, talking about the pretty women from before but from a different aspect of Vince's personality this time. Everything sounds chaotic and warbled before KUČKA's voice breaks through with a stunning, beautiful bridge that leads into the arrival of Kendrick Lamar, top dog of the new school who delivers one of my favorite features from him period. It's as if Vince is at the height of his bragging here, no credits on any of the song titles, and Kendrick shows up unannounced as if to say here's the biggest, most critically and commercially acclaimed and lauded rapper out right now, a feature on my song. It's structured amazingly, and I'm left wondering how Vince was able to convince his label to not have Kendrick credited on the title, as it would obviously receive much more attention. Regardless, Kendrick delivers an amazing verse, featuring a wonderful line in which at exactly 2:11 in the track, he states "211 got bread on me!" and the disgusting bass comes back in full force, 211 being the police code for robbery.

The next track, Homage, acts as a way of confronting the crabs in his bucket while he pays homage to different flows and a direct sample of a Rick Ross hook. He talks about how people can't hold him back anymore, Prima Donna was amazing and he deserves all the praise for it (which I agree with wholeheartedly), and he's at the top of his game. This works as a double meaning in my eyes, as people can't hold him back from success anymore and people cannot hold him back from expanding his sound and artistry beyond the 'gangster rap' label of the past. He is more than that, and this song acts as a big fuck you to everyone who wants him to stay in that sound. I love how he uses the "New Level" flow and the sampled Ross hook almost to say, this is the culture I'm in and I'm doing my own thing. This works in conjunction with SAMO, one of my favorite instrumentals on the album, in which Vince references people expecting him to keep doing the same sound over and over again. The production is heavy, with the bass reverberating alongside harsh synths stabs that sounds like a shark swimming through dark, murky waters. It's an amazing piece that truly cements that feeling of Vince wanting to break through the confines set on him as an artist, and with the insane production you'd be hard pressed to disagree with him.

Party People is the climax of the project and easily the most critical to the themes and concepts of the album, even above Alyssa Interlude. One of my favorite parts of the entire project is the opening to this song, as the kick drum sounds like someone tapping on a fish tank. The cover with the zoomed in picture on the face of the goldfish makes it look almost startled and frightened, as if someone just tapped on the glass and disturbed their tank. I envision those kicks to be that tapping, because coming off the braggadocio and 'fuck you' attitude of the past few tracks, the opening lines are the most raw of the entire project and set the tone for the rest of the song:

I been fucked since my early days

I been stuck in my worldly ways

Propaganda, press pan the camera

Please don't look at me in my face

Everybody might see my pain

Off the rail, might off myself

This is a stark contrast from the previous few tracks, as throughout the rest of the verse he talks more about his suicidal thoughts and how its "false bravado masked by wealth". Someone has finally disturbed his place in the tank, and his fear and anxiety has come to the surface. The pre-hook reflects this as well:

Move your body if you came here to party

If not then pardon me

How I'm supposed to have a good time

When death and destruction's all I see?

Out of sight, I'm out of my mind

The sound of sunshine is callin' me

Good vibrations is all I need

All I need, all I need

The way this is delivered works perfectly with the chorus, in which he repeats lines about how he wants to see the party people dancing, and it sounds like someone pleading. He needs that energy because he doesn't want to face his anxieties and insecurities. The second verse comes in, with lines that reference Vince referring to love as a "God" to him back in 745:

I met God once at a rendezvous and felt star-struck

"Vince, the car's out front"

Got things to do, got to make my moves

And the sound of a car screeching outside is heard. As soon as Vince has finally fallen in love he is immediately taken back to his life of fame, and even if he wants something more out of his love life, he doesn't have the time because of the fame. It's a truly fantastic track that works perfectly to explore all the themes present on the project, and is a good segue into the aggressive and political nature of BagBak.

BagBak explores Vince's politics and his standing as a black man in the current political landscape over the most uptempo and aggressive track yet. He talks about how there should be more black representation in politics and until he's fully accepted as a black man and black people are fully equal in all ways Vince is going to go harder than ever before. It works perfectly as an end to the braggadocios side of the album, with Vince declaring that he and his people are finally on now, and everyone can suck his dick because they're finally making it and fighting back. It works perfectly in conjunction with Rain Come Down, which returns to the sound of the first half of the album. On his first verse which is repeated twice for effect, Vince discusses his home of Long Beach and how cops don't come around where he's from, and he made it from where he's from and people shouldn't try to do the same because they're not on his level. In the third verse, he touches on not wanting a relationship full of love, just fine women which reflects the rain finally coming down when he states that

Make it rain, in the club

Don't you dream of how it feel to be in love?

The rain is now literally coming down in the form of dollars in the strip club, and Vince reflects asking if the woman dreams of the feeling of love. This disconnect is wonderfully established and it's a great way to wrap everything up, and all this is done with a beautiful thumping beat and an amazing Ty Dolla $ign hook.

Vince's uncompromising commitment to pushing himself as an artist and making better, more genre bending and blurring music is uncontested. The result is a fantastic project that builds upon concepts and themes previously explored in a wonderful package that challenges both Vince and his listener to push their boundaries of what they are used to. As a longtime fan, I was not fully on board at first with the change in sound but over months of analyzing and listening and researching I feel as though I am completely confident in saying this is his best work and an absolutely amazing project. Big Fish Theory is a phenomenal, daring masterstroke by one of hiphop's most crucial trailblazers.

Discussion Questions:

1) How long have you been following Vince Staples? How do you think that's influenced how you feel about his changes in sound?

2) What are your favorite lyrics from the project?

3) Has this project made you want to check out the genres that influenced the sound of the production? If so, how did you like it?

4) How do you feel about Prima Donna? Has this project made you go back and revisit it and feel differently?

5) Where would you like to see Vince go from here? Any genres you'd like to see him explore?

BONUS QUESTION FOR MY REAL ONES

1) For those like me who have been following Vince since the Shyne Coldchain & Winter in Prague days, what's been your favorite era in his career so far?

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Hip-Hop Listening Club Album of the Week #238: Three 6 Mafia - Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis

Posted: 14 Dec 2017 02:38 PM PST

Welcome to HHH Listening Club!

This well we'll be listening to Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis by Three 6 Mafia.

Background

Three 6 Mafia :Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis is the third volume in the "Underground" series of albums released by Three 6 Mafia. The songs are either previously unreleased songs from the early to mid-1990s or songs that didn't make the final cut for their album, When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1.

It's doesn't get brought up much when talking about Three 6 but I think it has some essential tracks and compares strongly against more popular releases like Underground Vol.1 (especially because every track has verses) and Chapter 2: World Domination. Tracks like "Sleep" and "Grab Tha Gauge" are easily some of the best they've put out. This album is not really underground like the others, more remade tracks than remastered, but that's a bonus for me because it sounds like they were all in the studio together rather than piecing together an album from old tapes.

I've said it before but with Three 6 you can never predict which member is going to have the best verse, Gangsta Boo has a deadly flow on "Grab The Gauge" whole Lord Infamous is in his element on "Sleep" while DJ Paul and Juicy J make up the backbone of the album with great chemistry. Lil E is also has two songs to himself on "Powder" and "Niggaz Down To Make Some Ends" and he brings a real low down and dirty feel.

This albums showcases most styles of Three 6 from hard tracks like "M.E.M.P.H.I.S.", smooth and laid back on "Da Summa (remix)" and "Lockdown", the hypnotic "Sleep" and "Mindstate" and the rest mostly sounding like Mystic Stylez. So for both old fans and people wanting to check out what influenced today's Memphis revival rappers this has a lot to offer.

Two of the best songs, "Da Summa (remix)" and "Lockdown" aren't on Spotify for some reason so make not to miss them.

Selector: /u/4_5_6

Album: Three 6 Mafia - Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis (2000 (rec. 1991-2000))

Label: Loud Records

Producer(s): DJ Paul & Juicy J

Representing: Memphis, Tennessee

Streaming Sources:

Guidelines:

This is an open thread to share your thoughts on the album. Avoid vague statements of praise or criticism. This is your chance to be a critic.

Please keep any top level comments to 140+ characters unless you have a simple question to ask about the album.

Why do you like this album? What are the best tracks? Did it meet your expectations? Have you listened to this tape before? What is your first impression? Explain why you like it or why you don't.

Remember, people who participate in the discussion in a meaningful way are entered into a drawing to select next week's album!

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EDIT: Looks like many people have been wanting proof. He basically said the date on his instagram story yesterday which has now been deleted. If anybody can find it, I'll link.

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