Vince Staples is the opposite of subliminal. He’s never been afraid to share his thoughts on hip-hop’s culture, music and characters, even if his opinion goes against the grain. Still, he also acknowledges that sometimes things can go too far on Twitter, and he’s taken several self-imposed exiles from the social media platform. Last year, he even deleted over 10,000 of his tweets and comments before moving strictly to Instagram and Snapchat for a while.
Staples is one of the few who delivers hard truths. His Twitter is best described as “enlightening,” and followers can expect nothing but realness with a satisfying degree of shock value. Here’s some of the most notable times Staples may have been too real for the twittersphere.
Cover photo by Daniel Zuchnick / Getty
Tweet 1
“I just took a brief listen to your soundcloud, you will never make it.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) March 15, 2017
Vince goes in on his fans after he received some flack for working with electronic artists, like GTA. Apparently, a lot of his fans believe he’s supposed to remain a “thug” and that his work with EDM artists goes against who he is as a rapper. Vince was quick to correct them on both his personality and their knowledge of genres outside of hip-hop ,while dealing out some harsher truths in the process.
Tweet 2
“Give me a abailable date Tony y'all around the same size it should be a coo lil fade I'll go get the gloves from Cig 5 right now.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) May 3, 2017
“I wanna thank @vincestaples for making this beef relevant.”
— Anthony Fantano (@theneedledrop) May 3, 2017
“Nigga you think I'm playing I'm really tryna set this fade up. Let's get all the way negative.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) May 3, 2017
Vince tries to legitimately set up a fight between TheNeedleDrop’s Anthony Fantano and Wale after “The Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd” had some choice complaints on Twitter about Wale’s newest album, Shine. After Fantano said that Wale had the worst rap song of 2017 and that he was trying to capitalize on the “Caribbean craze,” Vince showed up to moderate their debate while also attempting to take it to the street in the spirit of the #SquabbleUpChallege.
Tweet 3
I am highly offended by the term conscious rap don't associate me with that.
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) August 12, 2015
Like what does that even mean? You're telling me everybody else is unconscious? Sound like some bullshit if you ask me.
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) August 12, 2015
The label “conscious rap” may be considered praise to some, and to others, insult. Vince shared his views on the label with a couple of one-off tweets, drilling holes into the subgenre. If there’s only a select group of rappers who are “conscious,” then what is everyone else? If they’re not “conscious” are they automatically “unconscious”? That does seem pretty demeaning to hip-hop as a whole. Vince’s label as a conscious rapper stems from his lyrical prowess and critical reception to his first album Summertime ‘06.
Tweet 4
“No person needs to be attacked for their opinion on what they see to be appropriate for their children. They have a right to it.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) October 6, 2016
“This misunderstanding of our community leads to miscommunication which we should convert into a progressive dialogue.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) October 6, 2016
Vince defends a mother of four (much to the surprise of the internet), who’s tear-filled attack on “Norf Norf” went viral. The woman says she heard “Norf Norf” on the radio while in the car with her children, and was so disgusted that she went home and looked up the lyrics to the song, leading to her video response. But while everyone else criticized her misunderstanding of rap, Vince himself chimed in to silence those suppressing her freedom of speech.
Tweet 5
“I'm tired of Chris Paul being on this pedestal like he's ever won anything. Somebody show me a high school title, a spelling bee, something!”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) July 6, 2015
Vince, notable Clippers fan and basketball enthusiast, dragged Chris Paul on Twitter after DeAndre Jordan left the team back in 2015, supposedly with push from Paul. Despite Paul’s revered status on the Clips, Vince was adamant that Paul was not only a bad influence but a bad player, and that anyone would have to have a “top 5 crack dealer” to think otherwise. He even tried to get Lil B to place one of his infamous curses on the player at the end of his online rant.
Tweet 6
“Everybody send sprites to 572 Olympia Avenue Cliffside Park NJ 07010 for my stepson Joey he loves Effen Vodka so let's get him right.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) August 31, 2015
Vince and Sprite are an inseparable duo at this point. Vince has an incredible history of plugging the soda in both his music and on Twitter, and scrolling through his Sprite-based tweets is pure comedy. It paid off for stepson Joey, as Vince gave out his full address to his hundreds of thousands of followers so we could get him right with something to mix in that Sprite.
Tweet 7
“Once you get shot niggas wanna go marching when they wasn’t nowhere around before that bullet came out the chamber on crip lol”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) July 7, 2015
Vince went on one of his first notable Twitter rants after rumors began to spread that Summertime ‘06 was going to do less than 5k sales in its first week. He blamed the hip-hop community for hypocrisy in that they “wanted him to do badly,” but as soon as someone gets shot they act completely opposite. Tyler, The Creator actually chimed in to tell Vince that even though they were hating, they were still fucking with him enough to get involved. Vince half-heartedly agreed while still asserting that they could “suck his dick.”
Tweet 8
“Niggas telling me I wouldn't exist without 90s hip hop as if I don't have a mother or father.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) October 28, 2015
“In 1999 I was 7 years old and toy story 2 had just dropped you niggas really think I was worried about hip hop?”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) October 28, 2015
“Niggas will shit on you because you aren't infatuated with their era of music then wonder why you don't rock with they old ass.”
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) October 28, 2015
In an interview with TIME, Vince had some interesting things to say about the 90’s era of hip-hop. Well, mostly negative things. Twitter of course was all over him after that, and especially the rapper N.O.R.E. who started beefing with Vince, resulting in this series of tweets. Many other modern rappers have started to say similar things, most recently Lil Yachty who said he’s never even listened to Biggie or Pac.
Tweet 9
THEY GOT TUPAC SHOOTING ON ONE KNEE HE ON SOME CALL OF DUTY SHIT !!
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) June 18, 2017
SNOOP WEARING THIS BRAND NEW ASS STEELERS HAT THOUGH I DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL.
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) June 18, 2017
Vince hilariously live-reviewed the new Tupac biopic All Eyez On Me on Twitter last week, which has received somewhat mixed reviews from the hip-hop community. Vince is clearly on the disappointed side of the audience, tweeting about Pac’s cheesy gun stance and the multiple issues with Snoop Dogg’s portrayal in the film, which range from wearing a brand new Steeler’s hat to having to do a very out of place voiceover for his character in the film.
THEY GOT TUPAC SHOOTING ON ONE KNEE HE ON SOME CALL OF DUTY SHIT !!
SNOOP WEARING THIS BRAND NEW ASS STEELERS HAT THOUGH I DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL.
Tweet 10
Also everybody who didn't like my answers on Reddit AMA I wanna say "Lol" and "my bad".
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) June 13, 2017
You can only answer "who you wanna collab with" and "where's Earl Sweatshirt" questions so many times.
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) June 13, 2017
Last week Vince begrudgingly participated in a Reddit AMA on r/hiphopheads, which in classic Vince Staples fashion, divided the subreddit and his fanbase. He mostly gave one or two-word answers, and a lot of “YOUWEIRD” in response to the stranger questions. He took to Twitter afterwards to somewhat explain himself - moreso he continued to show that he just doesn’t give a fuck when he doesn’t have to.
Also everybody who didn't like my answers on Reddit AMA I wanna say "Lol" and "my bad".
You can only answer "who you wanna collab with" and "where's Earl Sweatshirt" questions so many times.
