Vince Staples – “Rose Street”

Vince Staples knows an opportunity when he sees one. Next month, Staples will release his new album Ramona Park Broke My Heart. He’s already shared the Mustard-produced lead single “Magic.” The wheels were already in motion. Then, last night, Will Smith smacked Chris Rock full in the face, onstage and on live TV, in the middle of the Oscars. Very shortly thereafter, Staples tweeted, “Will Smith inspired me man let me drop this video.”

And then Vince Staples dropped this video. Last night, Staples shared the clip for his new single “Rose Street.” (I’m guessing the video would’ve come out today without the whole Will Smith thing, but who knows?) The song is short, and much of it is given to a sample of oration about the trap of being a Black man in America. (One of those voices is might be Tupac Shakur, and it quotes from Pac’s song “Lord Knows.”) When the song actually starts, Staples raps about surviving adversity — “All gas no brakes ’cause I’m livin’ like that/ Came up outta every case with my Crippin’ intact” — over a chilly beat from producers Tommy Parker and Saint Mino.

Vince Staples co-directed the “Rose Street” video with C. Blacksmith, and it’s a single long-grainy shot of Staples singing on a graffiti-strewn beach, staring out at the ocean. The song cuts off abruptly, so we might not get the whole track in the video. Check it out below.