The Good Fight & The Ferrari: Vince Staples, Live in London

05 September 2017, 09:18 | Written by Christian Graham

(Live)

(Vince Staples)

It’s been a long time coming for the North Side Long Beach-based rapper, having tied this date around a number of European festivals and a few months after the release of his second studio album, Big Fish Theory, his performance in Kentish Town seemed like an end of a chapter for Vince Staples.

Sounds of pouring rain envelop the venue, and a brittle and airy dance beat follows Vince’s invasive vocal into the set-opener "Party People" as the rapper poises his regular poignant vocal sleaze in front of the energetic crowd. Appearing still and Mafioso-like, Vince turns and stares into the crowd before peering off as a silhouette underneath a thick smog and desolate lava backdrop.

As opposed to this still stage backdrop, each of Vince’s releases musically glows with different colours and personalities. Underneath the rapper’s intricate design of brute sub-bass and twinkling synths, Vince never fails to push creative boundaries with each album. His most recent release, Big Fish Theory, swims abreast to this, clearly channelling the influences of UK drum ‘n’ bass, jaunty two-step beats and a handful of club bangers.

Lines like “I need to fight the power but I need that new Ferrari” accompanied the malevolent guitar growls in "Lift Me Up". Many of these powerful lyrical themes intensify and thrive in the context of Staples' signature malevolent driving basslines. One half of these lyrical ideas reference addictions to materialism, while the other half embrace the experiences and troubles of growing up with gangster life in LA. His set continues with a manipulated Snoop Dogg G-funk sound running circles around the eager crowd in the mosh-heavy "Blue Suede".

Vince proceeds to sift through his last four releases with his usual nihilism and laid-back vocal style on pounding bass dominant beats; on "Norf Norf", the crowd repeat the “I ain't never ran from nothin' but the police” chant into abysm.

With recent collaborations from the UK, such as with Gorillaz on "Ascension" and PC Music signee SOPHIE on "Yeah Right", it appears this headline London show is more vital for the rapper than any UK show before. Vince maintains a high level of energy throughout, moving from album to album with ease and grace, and proving that he deservedly stands in the same league as a Kendrick or Kanye with the amount of artistry and presence he brings to his creative work.