CD reviews: Vince Staples

In what shapes as a vintage year for rap, Vince Staples strides into the fray with his sophomore effort, taking leave from the agitated G-Funk wooze of 2015’s Summertime 06, instead encompassing brain-crushing dubstep drops and spine-pulverising rave-whooses to create a truly singular brand of "Afro-Futurism".

Thankfully, this otherworldly aural palette does little to dull his virtuoso logorrhea  — the irony of Party People’s "human issue too strong for tissue," — and
"just crashed the sports car/so much for fast life" (Love Can Be) highlight Staples’ sense of nihilism and alienation.

A sign of the times from one of hip-hop’s whoppers.

• Vince Staples. Big Fish Theory. Def Jam.  

• Four and a half stars (out of five)

Single download: Love Can Be
For those who like: Yeezus, Kendrick Lamar, Detroit techno

— John Hayden