Vince Staples: ‘The music industry monetises people’s struggles, pain, death and murder’

“Vince Staples is the antithesis of the modern-day mainstream rapper. He is stoic, self-effacing and decidedly unshowy. Whereas stars such as Drake, Lil Baby, and Tyler, The Creator are visible – never far from a red carpet or promotional gimmick – Staples prefers to lay low, letting his music speak for itself. “I blend into the background, and I think that’s a big misconception about artists, that they can’t,” he says over Zoom from his home in Long Beach, California. “You can build your own world. I don’t have to have security, I don’t have to live in a gated community, I don’t have to go to parties. I just create and I live within the world that I’ve tried to create for myself. I appreciate being able to have that kind of reality.””