Review Summary: Vince ain't doing the same old thing
Isn't this an exciting time to be listening to hip-hop? It seems rappers are more inclined to take risks now than ever, and as a result we have been treated to a vast array of different approaches and ideas. Vince Staples's Big Fish Theory follows this trend, absorbing the influence of UK dance music into Staples's deadpan take on West Coast hip-hop. The genres being touched on here (UK garage, UK bass, house etc) certainly aren't new, but it is rare to hear these sounds being incorporated by US hip-hop acts in the way they are here, and even rarer to hear it done so successfully. Nothing else out there right now sounds quite like this album, and it deserves all the praise it has been getting for its boldness and creativity. I mean there are two songs on here with beats produced by SOPHIE of all people! That is something you don't hear every day, and to be honest this album would be worth the price of admission for the thrill of hearing Kendrick Lamar unleash verbal pyrotechnics over a speaker melting SOPHIE beat alone. That happens on "Yeah Right", by the way, for anybody who just read that and needs to hear it right now.
However, for all the talk of Big Fish Theory's unconventionality it isn't an inaccessible or alienating listen, in fact quite the opposite. Shortly before the album's release Vince Staples tweeted: "PLEASE EXPERIENCE BIG FISH THEORY IN THE APPROPRIATE SETTING BECAUSE I DO INDEED SERVE THE BASS" and, aside from being a 10/10 fish pun, his comment tells us quite a bit about the music on the record; it is club-ready and infectiously danceable. Many of the sounds here, such as "745"''s PHAT bassline, "Big Fish"'s smooth house groove or "Yeah Right"'s straight up disgustingly heavy bass, are practically screaming to be heard through a proper sound system. "Love Can Be..." in particular features an absolutely ridiculous groove - I can't wait to hear it in an actual nightclub, as opposed to alone in my bedroom. This is very ear pleasing music, music that will have you bopping your head even if heard through earbuds on the bus, and it deserves credit for managing to be so instantly gratifying whilst also being interesting and unorthodox.
And yet despite all this I can't help but feel like an oppur-tuna-ty has been missed here. For all of its ambition there is something slightly lacking about Big Fish Theory, and I think a lot of this comes down to what Staples himself does and doesn't do on the album. His rapping is given far less time in the spotlight here than on Summertime '06, and most of his verses come in the form of short bursts, as opposed to the longer monologues favoured previously. This for me sometimes makes the songs feel slightly empty and insubstantial.
It isn't so much of an issue when the extra time is devoted to groove or atmosphere - as on "Crabs In A Bucket", which features both an extended intro building up to Staples's verse and an extended outro to carry the song out. It is however slightly more problematic when the rapping is being pushed to the side in favour of hooks. The hooks (which are often quite weak in the first plaice) really get run into the ground here, and I have to say that I for one would definitely have preferred to spend more time herring Vince spit instead of hearing him say "boy yeah right" or "these hoes won't hold me back" for like the fifteenth time. The latter example (from "Homage") is particularly painful - Staples sounds fintastic riding over the song's snappy house beat, but each verse is so brief that it feels like he gets cut off just as he's getting going. When he is rapping Staples is as on point as ever, and it's impressive how natural he sounds flowing over all these rather unconventional beats, which makes it all the more frustrating that his presence is limited. There's a reason why "Big Fish" is such a standout; Staples is given plenty of time to just rap and let his verses develop (it also features a swagtastic hook from Juicy J).
On top of this a lot of the songs feel slightly underdeveloped, or at the very least lacking in that special something that could have pushed them further. "Yeah Right", great as it is, doesn't really get going until Kendrick Lamar's verse, and I can't help but feel that "Love Can Be..." ends without fully capitalising on its momentum. This is not to say that any of these are bad songs - quite to the contrary, they are really good songs, it's just that with a little more work they cod have been amazing songs and it doesn't feel like they live up to their full potential.
However, if it sounds like I'm disappointed in Big Fish Theory it's only because I had very high expectations; this is still a great album that is both a daring move for Vince Staples and a lot of fun for the listener. With the exception of closer "Rain Come Down", which I find a bit of a slog (Staples repeats an entire verse word for word on this song - why?), all the songs are good and the themes, both lyrically and musically, are as fresh as today's catch. Get it? It's a fish pun.
8
