Long Beach California native, Vince Staples is making waves with his most recent mixtape, Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2 which he released on March 14th. This week the Cutthroat Boys member and occasional Odd Future rapper released his heart-wrenching video for this first (and best) single off the mixtape: “Nate” featuring R&B singer, James Fauntleroy.
The video is set in his hometown of Compton, California and we believe that the adorable kid in the video is a young Staples as he absorbs his difficult surroundings and is subjected to real world issues at a young age. In the Scoop Deville produced track, Staples raps about how he grew up idolizing his dad although he was an abusive husband, a negligent father and a drug dealer trying to make ends meet for his family. Whether the child in the video is meant too depict Staples or not, he delivers an excellent intimate portrayal of the lives of other young men whom grow up under similar circumstances-forcing them to abandon their childhood and become just like their fathers. Over heavy big band instrumentals, he raps, “As a kid, all I ever wanted was to kill a man, be like my daddy’s friends hoping out that mini van.” Throughout the video he honestly explains the complexities of his relationship with his dad because even though he was not a great man, he would always be his father; “But my daddy was the man.”
There is a brief but significant cameo by Staples himself in the Alexi Papalexopoulos directed video. Vince Staples is currently on the Oxymoron tour with Schoolboy Q and Isaiah Rashad.
