This is the opening sentence of the first paragraph. Whenever I do a track-by-track write-up, I'll jot down something about the artist that will ideally grab the readers interest, and maybe even make the reader look at the subject a little differently. I will now end the paragraph with a phrase or even question that is supposed to draw the reader in, and hopefully make the reader click the "view more" tab directly below. (I do this because it doubles the page views)
This is the opening sentence of the first paragraph. Whenever I do a track-by-track write-up, I'll jot down something about the artist that will ideally grab the readers interest, and maybe even make the reader look at the subject a little differently. I will now end the paragraph with a phrase or even question that is supposed to draw the reader in, and hopefully make the reader click the "view more" tab directly below. (I do this because it doubles the page views)
Now I've got your attention, and I'll proceed to delve into the subject of today's post with a little more depth. If there's nothing too interesting in recent memory, I try to just give a quick chronological run down of the artist's history to get the reader up to date. This is usually accompanied by a vehement amount of dismissal or heaping mounds of praise. It all really depends on how I'm feeling about the artist on that specific day. If the writing gets a little dry, I'll adds some italics, and maybe a little (lot) of profanity to lighten up the tone. On a good day, there will also be something mildly funny somewhere in the mix.
If I really want to make it look like I put a lot of effort into the review, I'll add another paragraph of filler here.
And maybe some more here.
If the stars align, I'll be able to place a question or phrase here that perfectly leads into the actual track-by-track review, but that almost never happens...
1. Fire
Kudos to Vice Staples for not including an introductory track: rather, he chooses to jump right into the mediocrity (to this point, not saying doesn't have potential) that I've associated with his entire career. That's more of a comment on his rapping ability, though, as the song itself is pretty good. If you can just listen to how cool our host's voice sounds when mixed with the instrumental provided by whoever the hell produced this (sorry, I'm too lazy to look it up), then you'll be good. Unfortunately, I can't really get over how stupid that hook is. I'm sure it sounded cool in Vince's head, but it's not doing much for me. Should have been better, but hey, its a serviceable first track.
2. 65 Hunnid
At least Vince still has some tricks up his sleeve (which sounds ridiculous, considering how relatively young his career is), combing his signature aggressive voice with a flow that works far better than the last song. The beat is good. The rest of the track, however comes across as something Juvenile may have written for himself during the window when the Hot Boys were taking over southern hip hop. It sounds ridiculous, boastful, and violent without provocation, but still kinda fun. Not that I'm trying to float the rumor that Juve is a ghostwriter for Vince Staples, mind you. But, if that's your takeaway from this entire paragraph, well, so it be. But that beat, though.
3. Screen Door
Meh
4. Hands Up
This is much more like it. Over an incredibly intense beat, Vince addresses the fucked up current state of the nation, running down a list of names killed by the L.A. Police over the past year. I don't know when this song was originally recorded, but with the increased number of police brutality victims (Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin), the message is magnified. Also, the previously mentioned instrumental is chaotic enough to justify the serious subject matter. Most importantly, though, the song just fucking sounds good, which makes this one of the best songs in the man's catalog.
5. Blue Suede
But it's not better than this. No need for me to say anything overly intellectual here: this song is simply the tits. To be completely honest, this lead single is the main reason I even checked Hell Can Wait out, and continue to have high hopes for Vince Staples (well, this and his verse on Earl's "Hive", which warrants all the praise it receives). Vince sounds terrific here, probably the best he ever has, but Marvin "Hagler" Thomas' instrumental sounds even better. I imagine it sounds like something Dre would have made for Ice Cube circa 1990 had they not hated each other. Then again, had there been peace between N.W.A., who knows if O'Shea would've built up enough anger to make an album like Death Certificate, but that's completely beside the point. That point being Vince Staples made a early-career defining song. No disrespect to "Hands Up", but this is Staples' best song by a fairly significant margin.
6. Limos (feat. Teyana Taylor)
Following up a great song is tough, I know, but that's no reason for our host to place what he knows damn well is the weakest song on the EP directly after the strongest. I'm not a fan (it's really not terrible, but I can't see myself ever listening to it again), but since it contains the first feature, I'd like to point out how much I enjoy the fact that there are no other rappers on Hell Can Wait. I came to here Vince Staples, and that's what I got, so nice work there. Also, there's a beat on here that exists.
7. Feelin' the Love
Not the greatest song in the world, but a solid way close the tape, nonetheless. Vince decides to end things on a positive (relatively speaking, of course), as he gives another quick rundown of what it was like growing up in Long Beach, before letting the kids know that "life is what you make it, just depend on how you roll the dice". Again, though, the production complements Vince's style perfectly, and it's be a damn shame if he doesn't work with Hagler again whenever his debut solo album arrives. Their chemistry is way too promising to go to waste.
Rating: 3.5/5
I feel like the rating may be a little generous, but whatever. I'm not the most generous person, but I've seen people be generous, and I've even read books about the subject, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Anyways, Hell Can Wait is a decent EP that has problems with consistency, but its overall quality is significantly boosted by two really good songs. And even though I said there's "consistency problems", there's no stand out bad songs. The two best just happen to be back-to-back, and the rest of the tape appears inferior. Vince Staples has long been viewed as a special talent that will eventually morph into a star, and there's nothing on Hell Can Wait that will slow that development. In fact, its much more encouraging than the mixtape he released earlier this year. This feels like a necessary stage of Vince learning how to craft songs instead of simply relying on his above-average rapping ability. It also doesn't hurt that he has access to Hagler, who has apparently turned into a really good producer. Again, you only really need to hear "Hands Up" and "Blue Suede", but if you feel like staying around for the entire length, you could do a lot worse.