‘Vince Staples is interactively entertaining and sonically sound.’ – Vaughn Lowery, President, 360 MAGAZINE
Vince Staples has released his highly anticipated new album Cry Baby in partnership with Loma Vista Recordings. The ten song album is out today digitally, as well as on vinyl featuring an exclusive bonus track (with a limited Cry Baby Red vinyl variant only available at indie record shops). The album is the opening salvo of the iconic musician’s independent era, a moment during which he’s directly engaged with fans time and time again – from manning the booth selling tickets at El Rey Theatre for his album release show, to inviting people to attend his band’s rehearsals at The Smell, to showing up at Undefeated La Brea this past weekend at a Converse event where the custom Cry Baby Chucks were unveiled. He cemented the connection last night by offering a free live-stream to the sold out release show.
The album was preceded by a run of stunning and thought-provoking visuals, with iconography and themes carrying from one to the next. Despite the deeply embedded themes present in the clips for “Blackberry Marmalade,” “White Flag,” and “Cotton,” each was delivered without comment, giving them space to speak for themselves.
Firmly established as a generational talent, across his career Staples has consistently expanded his reach across music, film, and television; but it’s within music that he continues to sharpen his edge as a singular storyteller and cultural force. Following the deeply introspective lens of Ramona Park Broke My Heart, a melancholic homage to his hometown, and Dark Times, which pushed even further inward, Cry Baby turns outward, processing the endlessly repeating cycles of American tumult and reflecting them back with sharply honed clarity and intent.
Beyond the lyrics and subject matter, Cry Baby signals a bold musical and sonic shift as well. Staples built each track around live instrumentation, underscoring the album’s immediacy and urgency. The result is a dynamic, confrontational body of work that captures the tension, absurdity, and emotional weight of America – an album that doesn’t just document the times and its precedents, but actively wrestles with them.
“As the world burns, I have decided to release this album. Thanks for listening.” – Vince Staples.
WATCH THE “BLACKBERRY MARMALADE” VIDEO
CRY BABY TRACK LIST
1. Blackberry Marmalade
2. Go! Go! Gorilla
3. White Flag
4. The Running Man
5. TV Guide
6. The Big Bad Wolf
7. Only In America
8. Do You Know The Devil?
9. Cotton
10. 7 In the Morning
ARTICLES IN THE MEDIA
“There is no denying that this could be an album of the year contender.” – HOT NEW HIP HOP
“Staples remains undefeated in creating art that interrogates our present without feeling pretentious or performative.” – THE FADER
“He’s making some of the most arresting and interesting and original and compelling music in the world of hip hop and rap of any artist right now” – NPR
“The musician, known for his inventiveness and often surrealist approach to art making, is clearly taking a direct approach here.” – ASSOCIATED PRESS
“If there was ever anything holding him back, that’s gone now.” – STEREOGUM
“Staples knows how to hide his bracing sociopolitical commentary in plain sight among earworm hooks.” – PASTE
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*Vince Staples photo by Adrian Nieto
