Vince Staples
The California-born rapper made a rare headlining appearance in Oklahoma City this month. Check out photos and a quick review.
Vince Staples approaches hiphop like a gymnast. Bouncing from one side of the massive Jones Assembly stage to the other, the California-born rapper packed a marathon of entertainment into his 45-minute solo set. The evening of March 8 was half dance party and half punk rock concert.
Staples is no stranger to captivating an audience. He’s fresh off a co-headlining tour with his former Odd Future bandmates — Tyler, the Creator and Taco. They were a small fraction of the hip-hop collective that earned an internet following thanks to rowdy, unpredictable concerts. Consult YouTube for that wild evidence.
Today, Staples is handling solo duties like a pro. He’s practically playing with fire if you’re into his particular brand of clubready tracks and fierce lyrics. It also doesn’t hurt when you helped carry the “Black Panther” soundtrack to the top of the Billboard charts.
And there’s more hype where that came from.
A couple of days before his recent Oklahoma City concert, Staples somewhat jokingly released a GoFundMe campaign aimed at critical concertgoers.
He asked for $2 million to retire on. It ended up being a tongue-in-cheek move to build enthusiasm for a surprise single and a reaction to some no frills live performances. Yet another savvy move that garnered more attention than a billboard with Chief Willoughby’s name on it.
I didn’t hear any fans complaining over the bombastic bass blasts. I caught an athletic display of rhyme, rhythm and danceable beats. Staples’ 2017 record “Big Fish Theory” is full of poetry that constantly licks at a TNT fuse.
There’s a pulsating electronic dance element in his work that I didn’t fully appreciate until it was slapping me in the face. While taking photos, the speakers literally shook my rib cage. The crowd ate it up.
This show was sort of an anomaly. From booking to showtime, the headlining stop came together in less than a month. It was a rare headlining treat as Staples is sticking to mostly festival gigs throughout the summer. Roughly 1,200 patrons made the weekday warrior move to catch sets from Oklahoma’s own Jabee Williams and the Compton-born Staples.
The rappers now hold the designation of performing at the first hiphop concert at The Jones Assembly. Or maybe the second if you count Matisyahu’s set in November 2017.
Last month, I said I couldn’t think of an artist who pulled off a solo show better than St. Vincent. Staples is now in the running. He didn’t have the elaborate choreography, but he did have a stunning video display and energy to spare.
Dressed in all black — including a Police riot vest — he delivered controlled chaos. The youthful front row couldn’t take their eyes — or smartphones — off of Staples.
Each glowing screen seemed magnetized to the rapper’s movements. Staples isn’t one for stage banter. He only stopped the show a few times to check on the crowd before dishing out more bangers from his two-LP catalog.
If you had wanted to get lost in music for a night then Staples was on the same page.