Vince Staples released his Dark Times album Thursday night (May 23) via Blacksmith Recordings and Def Jam Recordings.
Dark Times is Staples' seventh and final Def Jam project. “Eleven years ago, a young, uncertain version of myself was given an opportunity with Def Jam Recordings. I released my first project under their banner, Shyne Coldchain Vol 2, a year later. I wasn't sure what to expect from the world of music, but I was deeply aware of what I needed: a change in my environment and a clear understanding of myself,” he wrote via Instagram on May 19. “Ten years and seven projects later, I found this clarity. Now, I'm sharing with you my latest Def Jam release, Dark Times. 5.24.24.”
Dark Times features a faint image of a loop on the album cover. “I'm black, and that's what we avoid,” he said of the inspiration behind the cover in a press release. “We all have our things that could kill us. We all have this imminent threat.”
He released “Shame on the Devil” as the first single earlier this week, along with optical. Staples called “Shame on the Devil” a “personal achievement” upon release. “I'm mastering some things that I've tried before that I wasn't great at at first. It's a testament to musical development, song structure – all the good stuff.”
Watch this Dark Times tracklist below.
- “Close your eyes and shake”
- “Black Blue”
- “State Cheese”
- “Children's song”
- “Shame On The Devil”
- “Étouffée”
- “Liars”
- “Justin”
- “Radio”
- “Nothing matters”
- “Little Homies”
- “Free”
- “Why won't the sun come out?”
Dark Times arrives two years after the release of Staples' fifth studio album, Ramona Park Break My Heart, which peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and No. 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Earlier this year, the Long Beach rapper released his own five-episode Netflix series titled The Vince Staples Show.
I hear Dark Times below.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/vince-staples-dark-times-album-1235691318/
