Vince Staples releases first single as an independent artist
Vince Staples has returned with his first single since becoming an independent artist.
The Long Beach rapper released his new song ‘Blackberry Marmalade’, produced by Mike Hector and Banshee The Great, on April 25th.
The defiant, anti-establishment track finds Staples rapping about everyone from Kanye West to Princess Diana.
In the first verse, he spits, “Empires built on bloodstained ground Kanye West, I pray they all fall down/ London Bridge, they’re tryna cross you now/ Don’t crash out, Dirty Diana/ I got the hammer I know it’s polarisin’/ I miss my nana/ She used to tell me ’bout her.”
The music video, directed by Staples and Bradley J Calder, is filmed in the style of a first-person shooter video game. The person with the camera takes his gun from a car park to a diner for a mass shooting.
At one point in the video, a cap shows the words “CRYBABY” with “6.05” on the side, suggesting his new album title and a release date of June 5th.
Staples released her last album, Dark Times, in May 2024, serving as his final album on Def Jam Recordings.
Before he released the project, Staples spoke to Rolling Stone about his label situation going forward.
“I haven’t really got to that part of the bridge yet,” he said. “Music is music, and we’re in a new time as far as how these things are approached. I’m not rushing to go into any new contracts or anything like that. But, I was given an opportunity as a teenager by Def Jam and Universal, so I’m very appreciative of that. But as far as now, I’m not sure how that’ll end up happening.”