Summertime '06

2015, Jun 30

Apple Spotify West Coast Hip Hop Hardcore Hip Hop 99 Highly Rated Def Jam Recordings Hiphopheads 1k+ Pitchfork 8.8/10 A.V. Club A The Needle Drop 6/10 Rolling Stone 3.5/5 All Music 5/5 Exclaim! 9/10 Under The Radar 8.5/10 Pop Matters 8/10 The Guardian 4/5 Spectrum Culture 90% Sputnikmusic 4.0/5 The Irish Times 4/5

Pitchfork 8.8/10 Vince Staples' first full-length for Def Jam is brilliant. The Long Beach rapper expresses complex ideas in plain, hard sentences, ones that can be handed to you like a pamphlet. His rapping is conversational, but these are the conversations you have when all optimism has been burned away.

A.V. Club A Few rappers sound less impressed by their own talent than Vince Staples. The 21-year-old Long Beach native raps with switchblade precision, in a contemptuous sneer that casts judgment on every word out of his mouth. He’s a born natural orator, yet he never plays up his best lyrics, or builds in pauses to allow…

Rolling Stone 3.5/5 Check out our album review of Artist's Summertime '06 on Rolling Stone.com.

Under The Radar 8.5/10 It's hard to believe Vince Staples is only 22. His interviews sound like they're coming from a tired, middle-aged man who's seen it all.

The Guardian 4/5 Brooding and menacing, Vince Staples’ debut takes an unflinching tour around his Long Beach, LA neighbourhood