Reacting to "Dark Times" by Vince Staples

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100 gecs – 1000 gecs, 10,000 gecs
21 Savage – Without Warning
50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Trying
A Tribe Called Quest – Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders
Ab Soul – Control System
A$AP Rocky – Live.Love.A$AP
Baby Keem – The Melodic Blue
Backxwash – I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES
Beyonce – Lemonade, RENAISSANCE, COWBOY CARTER
Billy Woods – Maps
BROCKHAMPTON – Saturation
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – Creepin on Ah Come Up
Chance the Rapper – Acid Rap
Chief Keef – Finally Rich
Childish Gambino – Because the Internet
Clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood
Common – Be
Conway the Machine – God Don’t Make Mistakes
D’Angelo – VooDoo
Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition, XXX, uknowhatimsayin, Quaranta
Dave – Psychodrama
De La Soul – Three Feet High and Rising
Death Grips – The Money Store, Exmilitary, Bottomless Pit
Denzel Curry – Taboo, Unlocked!, Melt My Eyez See Your Future
DMX – It’s Dark and Hell is Hot
Doja Cat – Scarlet
Drake – Take Care, Reading This/Too Late, Nothing Was the Same
Earl Sweatshirt – Doris, IDLSIDGO, Some Rap Songs, Solace
Erykah Badu – Baduizm
Frank Ocean – Blonde, Channel Orange
Freddie Gibbs – Pinata, Alfredo
Future – DS2, Monster, We Don’t Trust You
Ice Cube – Amerikkka’s Most Wanted
Ice Spice – Like..?
Injury Reserve – By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo
J Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only
J Dilla – Donuts
Jay Z – Blueprint, Reasonable Doubt, Watch the Throne, 4:44
Joey Bada$$ – 1999
JID – The Never Story, The Forever Story, Dicaprio 2
JPEGMAFIA – Veteran, All My Heroes Are Cornballs, LP!, Scaring The Hoes
Ka – Honor Killed the Samurai
Kanye – College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, 808s & Heartbreak, MBDTF, Yeezus, Life of Pablo, Ye
Ken Carson – A Great Chaos
Kendrick – Section.80, Good Kid Mad City, To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN, Untitled Unmastered, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers
Kenny Beats – Louie
Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon
Kids See Ghosts – Kids See Ghosts
Killer Mike – Michael
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of
Lil Ugly Mane – Mista Thug Isolation
Lil Uzi Vert – Pink Tape
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter, Tha Carter II
Lil Yachty – Let’s Start Here
Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Grey Area, NO THANK YOU, Drop 7
Lucki – Watch My Back
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor, The Cool
Mac Miller – Swimming, Circles
Mckinley Dixon – Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
Metro Boomin – Heroes & Villains
MF DOOM – Madvillainy, Mm Food, Operation Doomsday
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Mick Jenkins – The Patience
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
Mos Def – Black on Both Sides
Mos Def, Talib Kweli – Black Star
Nas – Illmatic, It Was Written
Nicki Minaj – Pink Print, Pink Friday, Pink Friday 2
NONAME – Telefone
Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die
On Man – Self Titled
Outkast – Southernplaya, ATLiens, Aquemini, Stankonia
Pierre Bourne – TLOP4
Playboi Carti – Die Lit, Whole Lotta Red
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions
Pusha T – Daytona
Richie Russo – Make Believe
Rihanna – ANTI
Run the Jewels – RTJ1, RTJ2, RTJ3
Saba – Care for Me
ScHoolboy Q – Blank Face, Blue Lips
Slick Rick – Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Slowthai – Ugly
Smino – Luv 4 Rent
SZA – CTRL, SOS
Teezo Touchdown – How Do You Sleep at Night
Teyana Taylor – KTSE
The Roots – Things Fall Apart
The Weeknd – House of Balloons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence, Kiss Land, After Hours
Three 6 Mafia – Mystic Stylez
Thundercat – Drunk
Travis Scott – Astroworld, Rodeo, Utopia
Tupac – Me Against the World, All Eyez On Me
Tyler the Creator – IGOR, Flower Boy, Call Me if You Get Lost (The Estate Sale)
UGK – Ridin’ Dirty
Vince Staples – Hell Can Wait, Big Fish Theory, FM!, S/T, Dark Times
Wu-Tang – 36 Chambers, Liquid Swords, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Yeat – Afterlyfe, 2093
Youngboy NBA – AI Youngboy 2, 3800 Degrees
Young Thug – Barter 6

0:00:00 – Opening Thoughts
0:03:05 – Close Your Eyes and Swing
0:03:40 – Black&Blue
0:10:10 – Government Cheese
0:17:55 – Children’s Song
0:23:00 – Shame on the Devil
0:29:20 – Etouffee
0:38:10 – Liars
0:40:15 – Justin
0:44:10 – “Radio”
0:48:30 – Nothing Matters
0:53:45 – Little Homies
01:00:40 – Freeman
01:06:10 – Why Won’t The Sun Come Out?
01:14:00 – Closing Thoughts

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46 thoughts on “Reacting to "Dark Times" by Vince Staples”

  3. Bob, I think you should consider listening to the new Twenty One Pilots record, "Clancy" or go back to the old "Trench". I think you'll really enjoy them and would be interesting to see your reaction to them.

    Reply

  6. Even though this is brand new, it might be my favorite project of his. It’s super mature, has his best hooks, and the production is amazing. The replay value is incredible as well, very happy for this reaction

    Reply

  9. Really great input on the final track/skit. Love how Bob is always so vulnerable and open with his past experiences and thoughts. Thanks for sharing Bob !! Love this album

    Reply

  12. On “Justin”, the girl is telling the man at the door that Vince is her little cousin Justin. The implication is that she didn’t tell Vince she was in a relationship and now has to cover up for Vince being at their house.

    Reply

  20. Only bringing this up because Vince names it specifically in Radio. Below the Heavens from Blu should be on the list somewhere. A modern classic from an unsung hero. Top 3 of the Kendrick era has been Kendrick Blu and Big Krit for me. Crazy how little love the other two have gotten.

    Reply

  28. Bob, thanks for this reaction man! Haven’t seen any other big guys cover this so it’s great to see, and doing 3 back to back was awesome too, it’s actually really interesting to see someone process the journey from FM to current day Vince in such a short timespan. So thank you, I’m grateful that you gave us this content.

    I don’t want to be an annoying commenter who’s never satisfied, so all I’ll say is- I understand u r naturally overflowing with requests and plans- please at some point in the next however long- u gotta (u don’t gotta do anything an anonymous account on YouTube tells u to lol) cover Ramona park. And again, than you dude.

    Reply

  41. Government Cheese has that weird sort of out of place snare during the chorus that is sampled from one of his first big hits called Blue Suede. It’s super neat cause that song was about violence so it’s cool that he’s sort of reclaiming it with his current sentiment about not wanting to make that type of music for record labels anymore.

    Reply

  45. Hey Bob, about the song "Justin" at the end of the song when she talks abt "Hey this is my little cousin Justin" she's referring to Vince as "Justin" because her actual man came home at the door. So its not the exact same interpretation as you said but it still adds to Vince's distrust of women in general

    Reply

  46. In regards to "Everything is the way it should be".

    I think that thought process is sound in general but the way some people use it, can be dangerous. It makes it seems as if the painting is already finished. All the "good" and "bad" is supposed to be happening. The "finished painting" approach gives life meaning in a way

    I consider myself an Optimistic Nihilist. I don't believe life or the universe has inherent meaning, I think we make it meaningful. I think the painting is finished when everything including the universe dies(heat death). Its all being painted as we go along, min by min, hour by hour, day by day.

    The waterfall being beautiful but also destructive is a perspective but in reality there is no such thing as beautiful or destruction, no such thing as good or bad.

    We should care about the people that are fucking over people, if its meaningful to us. To some of us the survival and well-being of humans is meaningful.

    To others, there're things more meaningful than humanity; Money, Religion, Power, Nationalism, Race, Ethnicity, etc.

    Just my thoughts.

    Reply

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