Summertime '06

It may not be the most talked-about rap record of the year, but it probably deserves to be. Long live Ramona Park.

When it's a;l said and done, Summertime '06 will be remembered as one of--if not solely--2015's best. [Jun-Jul 2015, p.87]

Staples has so much to say in Summertime '06 that it’d be impossible to fully dissect in one listen, and his ingenious phrasing makes for a constantly amusing variety of vignettes. A record is only as good as the music that accompanies, though, and collaborative producer No I.D. delivers in spades and then some.

Virtually every song slaps like crazy.

No I.D. and company have helped him make music that’s both uncomfortable and lived-in, and Staples sounds more himself inside of it than ever before.

Summertime '06's coming of age tale is complemented perfectly by production that finds the nuance in Staples' stories and matches it, couching Staples' rhymes in a way that the streets can understand best.

Summertime '06 is breathtakingly focused, a marathon that feels like a sprint.

This record is bold, uncompromising, and one of the best and most important in its genre to come out in an already exceptional year.

It's a vital entry from a burgeoning new star.

While unrelentingly committed to his personal story, Vince rapturously integrates dense and conscious-filled narratives of his inner life, packaged vibrantly over layered and unpredictable production executively produced by No I.D with support from DJ Dahi, Clams Casino and Christian Rich. Among 20 tracks, there's no filler to be found.

Former Kanye mentor No I.D., DJ Dahi, and Clams Casino handle production on the album, but they work together with Staples so that the seams between the different dreams, hallucinations, memories, and nightmares don’t show.

Summertime '06 is extremely cohesive, but occasionally tiptoes on being monotonous.

Splitting this weighty and rich effort into digestible chunks, the album's physical release comes on two separate discs, making Summertime '06 an artistic triumph wrapped in conceptually fitting package.

In a year of impressive solo rap albums, Staples has managed to create one that’s arguably the most idiosyncratic of the lot.

It is, simply, one of the best rap debuts of the year.

Summertime ‘06 is the kind of coming-of-age story that’s common to hip-hop, but Staples delivers his account with a furious passion and refreshing insight.

Like so much of his work, Staples lures us in with stylized storytelling and production (here, primarily overseen by No I.D.) but then hits hard with a jarring line like "They found another dead body in the alley."

Vince sounds more alive on this album, that coldhearted monotone has found a bit of hope.

[A] promising, unapologetically dense debut.

Although, it's a bit too long, and suffers from some peaks and valleys, it's a very solid project overall.

Vince Staples goes all-in on his sprawling double-LP commercial debut, and the returns are decent if not world-beating.

It adds up to a hard-hitting 20-track portrait of life and love in a mad city.