Every month I'll be picking the best rap verse. We were ranking the top five for a while but instead decided to go with something more definitive. June's pick is the first verse from Vince Staple's "Lift Me Up." It's the first track on his stellar debut, Summertime '06. I almost went with one of his verses on "Senorita," however, I felt like these bars had more impact in terms of subject matter. I will not be annotating these lyrics, I promise you. That's what Genius is for.
Vince Staples amazes me every time he opens his mouth. The 21-year-old Long Beach, Calif., native surprised me again with the release of Summertime '06. The album's first two lines are:
A rapper like Vince blowing up is important. His bars are always meticulous, filled with dark humor, and he has a keen sense of awareness that's very rare for someone his age. The life he led before he found rap could be to blame. Growing up in crime-riddled streets makes one older than they actually are. You're forced to become an adult at an early age. Death, addiction, and poverty is a way of life. Just in the first verse of "Lift Me Up" he touches on topics ranging from the Black Panthers to the influence Muddy Waters had on the Rolling Stones to racism in retail. He's not playing around with y'all.
Angel Diaz is a staff writer for Complex Media. Follow him @ADiaz456.
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