Vince Staples says that Mac Miller changed his life. He reflected on his relationship with the late rapper during an interview on the YouTube series Back on Figg. While discussing how artists like Earl Sweatshirt and Matt Martians of the Internet have impacted his career, he admitted that none have done as much as Mac Miller.
"He changed my life, like my perspective, and made me a better person," Staples said. "I used to be confused, like, 'Why is this white boy with all this money fucking n****s and not [just] anybody with some substantial talent. Like, he would sit there and teach me how to make sure I'm on beat, and like rap with certain energy. It took a long time… I was other everyday with nothing else to do for, like, months, and he was teaching me how to rap on beat, how to project, I didn't know how to ad-lib, I didn't know what ad-libs was! I didn't know what a metronome was."
Vince Staples Performs At The Mac Miller: A Celebration of Life Benefit Concert
From there, Staples explained that Miller helped him network with people he never would have otherwise met. "[He was] introducing me to people I had no business meeting, because I wasn't at the skill level yet," he continued. "I was talking to his mom today." As for how he met Miller, Staples recalled meeting him with Earl Sweatshirt. "Earl [Sweatshirt] had just came back from where he was at, and I introduced myself to him at the house and he was like, 'Yeah I know who you are,'" Staples recalled.
Vince Staples Discusses Working With Mac Miller
Staples and Mac Miller worked together numerous times over the years. They first connected on their collaborative project, Stolen Youth, in 2013. Miller produced the entirety of the effort under his pseudonym, Larry Fisherman.
[Via]