A little over a month after releasing his seventh studio album, Cry Baby, Vince Staples brought the album’s post-punk direction to NPR Tiny Desk.
During the performance, which was posted on Tuesday (July 21), the Long Beach rapper was backed by a four-piece band: guitarists Jennifer Haack and Mikaiah Lei, bassist Chloe Haack, and drummer Myles Martin. Apart from his 2024 track, “Shame on the Devil,” which appeared on Staples’ sixth album Dark Times, the remaining tracks performed, "Blackberry Marmalade,” "Go! Go! Gorilla,” "White Flag" and “Only In America,” are on Cry Baby.
While performing album cuts, Staples turned his attention to the crowd midway through the set with a history lesson on Black revolutionaries.
"I just wanna see something. If you know who George Jackson is, in the crowd, raise your hand!” Staples called out, mentioning the late author and prisoner, who was killed during a 1971 attempted escape at San Quentin State Prison. "What about Bobby Hutton?" Staples continued, also mentioning other fallen Black Panther Party members, to which no one in the audience raised their hand.
The rapper will bring the history lesson on the road beginning in October, when Staples kicks off the Cry Baby Tour. The outing will start in Atlanta on October 19, continuing in Dallas, Raleigh, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago and more before concluding November 15 in San Francisco. Staples will also be an opener on select dates of Turnstile’s Never Enough Tour, which begins in September.
