We don’t see music videos get the respect they deserve on cable. Remember when MTV, VH1 etc actually played videos!? Despite this, artists have still been capitalizing on visuals through YouTube. Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Rich the Kid, Kanye West and more have dropped mind-blowing music videos to bring their art to life. However I have to be honest, everyone seems to be sleeping on my man Vince Staples. The California emcee just dropped the Prima Donna EP, the follow-up to his stellar debut Summertime ‘06 that released last year.

Based on the cover I was led to believe that this was going to be a lighter project from Vince as opposed to the dark opus of his last endeavors. I was wrong in every sense of the word. Vince released a 10 minute short film to accompany the EP directed by Nabil (who has directed videos for Frank Ocean, Kanye WestThe Weekend and more). The video starts with Vince ironically shooting a music video, rapping about the lack of radio play and breaking into Def Jam if they don’t pay him. Now I’m not going to spoil the video because truth be told, there is a lot to unpack here. What I’m telling you is that there’s a deep message behind the music and the short film and if you haven’t pressed play I suggest you do so.

Have you listened to Vince Staples Prima Donna EP? Have you watch video? What do you think Vince Staples is dealing with and trying to say with this short film?


 

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