There's a case to be made that Vince Staples is one of the most engaging West Coasts artists of the modern age, fueled all the more by the release of his recent eponymous album. Today, Vince took a moment to chop it up with Ebro Darden, where he opened up about a variety of interesting topics -- including the album that might have been, a collaborative effort between himself, Alchemist, and Earl Sweatshirt.
In addition to that, Vince also took a moment to share his assessment of the west coast hip-hop landscape; as one of the most incisive emcees in the game, his observations certainly carry weight. Off the top, he made sure to give credit to a rapper who doesn't always recieve the appreciation he deserves: YG.
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"YG because he's one of the most important rappers in west coast, hip hop period," praises Vince, crediting YG for breathing a bit of life back into west coast rap. "And he kind of reinvigorated the sound with Mustard and everybody else. Brought the scene back. And we was already in kind of a groove because of what was coming from the function type thing."
"Also on the other side of the spectrum, you had PAC Div," continues Vince. "And you had Nipsey Hussle. You had UNI. You had Overdose. You had so many different things that was happening at once. And then that spirals into our future movement and things that was happening locally at that point in time. But the funny thing about it is that we kind of forget those things when they get big. Because now, YG is a superstar. Now Tyler's a superstar. Like people will be forgetting to put Tyler on the LA rapper list. Because he is just so big, you forget these things."
For more from Vince Staples, be sure to check out his complete conversation with Ebro Darden right here.