Vince Staples, if he has his way, won’t be around much longer. Recording booths will grieve the absence of his dexterous and athletic flow. The crowds that line up around the country to see him will miss his bouncy shows and sugar-coated nihilistic lyrics. He’ll leave behind a trail of critically acclaimed disco-infused records that angsty rap enthusiasts in 2037 will unearth in their bedrooms on the moon. But Staples will be gone. Not in a macabre way: he’ll be a proud homeowner, living out his days in peace.
But first he has to clock in at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, on his Smile, You’re on Camera tour. The name sounds like something Staples once wrote down on a sticky note as a reminder to himself. As one review of the show takes pains to point out, Staples doesn’t smile much during his set. He knows what the fans who come to his show, to any musician’s show, want: “30 seconds on Instagram and a T-shirt to wear later,” he tells me a couple hours before he’ll take the stage. And Even if Staples acts like he’s working for the weekend, he is at the top of his profession onstage where there isn’t a down beat during his hour-long performance.
But a few weeks into the tour, he’s tired. He needs a nap. Red Bull is the only item he says he personally adds to his rider. “Because I’m sleepy,” he explains. “I get tired a lot.” But he also sounds existentially exhausted—by practically everything. The rap game (“I'm for sure not going to be doing this shit forever. Why would I? It's a scam.”), internet trolls (“The people who are making jokes out of people's lives are all fucking losers.”), even pizza (“Pizza's disgusting.”) But what comes off curmudgeonly is actually what makes Staples endearing. He's not putting on a happy face, and his tendency to say things most publicists would hate is a cause for celebration.
“My thing about the tour is that I'm working towards affording peace,” he says. “I'm trying to buy a house and then I'm straight.” Maybe he’s trolling me—he once vowed to “shut the fuck up forever” if he raised $2 million on GoFundMe. But even that appeared to be clever marketing for a new song.
He’s waiting for his next shift to start in a sparse greenroom that’s filled with Smart Water, scattered apples and bananas, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and a variety pack of Frito-Lay chips. Staples says he didn’t ask for any of it. When I arrive, he’s laying down on the couch, a position he’ll remain in for the entirety of our 30-minute interview, in a pair of the ‘Purple Lobster’ Nike SB Dunks, tan cargo pants, and a Calvin Klein 205W39NYC Roadrunner sweater.
GQ: I love your sweater. Are you sad about Raf Simons leaving Calvin Klein?
Vince Staples: I don't care about him. I fuck with Virgil [Abloh,] that's my boy.
What do you think of the new Louis Vuitton stuff? Are you into the harnesses?
Nah, but I’m into everything that Virgil does because that's my boy and he's black, so. It's Black History Month so I’m finna be full Off-White for six months straight once I feel like it. Every day just show up as a peaceful protest. And we're going to switch between that and Pyer Moss. Who else black? That Wales Bonner.
Telfar.
See, I don’t even know what that is but we going to be in that too. Don’t Jay-Z own BBC Ice Cream now?
Jay-Z's with Puma now.
Yeah, I can't do that though. I got obligations.
So how is the tour going? Last time we checked in you were only one day in.
It's cool, can't complain. Shows are shows, man. There's nothing special about them.
You ever do the same thing every day? It don’t matter what it is, it gets old eventually. Not old but you get used to it.
Any standout shows so far?
The bad ones: you've got the shows that fail, the shows that are like 20 percent sold out. You gotta figure out how to make it feel good, keep the sound from bouncing off the walls. We had a couple of those just based on poor planning. Everything else is regular. The good ones are the good ones the bad ones are the bad ones. The bad ones are usually your fault.
Did you catch the Duke-UNC game last night? I know you’re a basketball guy.
Nah, I was in a meeting when that happened but that sucks—[Zion Williamson] getting hurt.
I saw the clip of him tearing the shoe but I'm not watching college basketball it's so, so bad.
The arrangement or the play?
Just because it's unnecessary to the point where you play a game where 40 percent of the players are just playing for their school. Five percent are going to make it and the rest are trying to figure out if they can make it and the [NCAA] makes all this money and people get hurt and it's a bunch of airballs, a bunch of bricked shots, a bunch of traveling. Your best players only here for one year and this is their first year. How good do you expect the game to be?
And I think most people were upset that Zion got hurt—
He'll be alright.
Are you excited about him?
No. I’m not unexcited I just, honestly, have never thought of him.
Did you see Barack Obama's bomber jacket though?
It just had a number on it. People are easily pleased nowadays. What am I supposed to say? He had on a black bomber jacket and they had the number 44 on the sleeve. What the fuck do that mean?
I mean, we have Trump out here taping his ties together. This is kind of nice to see, no?
[Laughs] Why? Why do we care about either one of them? Why do I care that he got a number on the side of his bomber jacket from Uniqlo? And why do I care if Trump tapes his ties together?
Hey, it was Rag & Bone, okay?
Rag & Bone is worse than Uniqlo.
Do you have a favorite song to play live right now?
Not really. The way it’s tied together it’s more of a medley. What’s that shit? It’s medley right? Like a vegetable medley. It’s medley style.
If you have one song they [the audience] likes about every 20 to 25 minutes you'll be fine. Building anticipation, making people happy, then they buy T-shirts. This whole thing is just like... once you do it enough, you learn what people want from you.
What do people want from you, from your show?
They want the same thing from everybody's show: 30 seconds on Instagram and a T-shirt to wear later.
You’ve been touring for a few years now. When you go back to places, do you have your favorite spots that you want to hit?
When I go to Chicago, I go to that place with the pancakes. I think it's called Dove's.
You’re into deep dish pizza, too, aren't you?
Hell nah. I hate pizza.
You hate pizza?
Pizza's disgusting.
I saw in an interview, you said you liked deep dish pizza.
Nah, I said I had a deep dish pizza but I’ll never eat that shit again. I don’t want to kill myself, I’m cool. If you have to go to sleep after you eat something, you shouldn't be eating it. Because that means your body shut down.
Which city has the best-dressed crowd?
The obvious answer would be New York and Los Angeles. My fanbase is really kids, weird people. Not in a negative sense but unique people... They're always talking about how they're going through something and, [he pitches his voice up an octave] "I have anger issues and blah blah." That's the majority of people who come to my shows. So it's not so much of a fashion thing.
We get a lot of kids who don't fit in so I don't really look at their clothes. We get a lot of different kinds of kids on the road, they'll be head to toe in their favorite musician's merch talking about their depression or some shit. Those are my fans.
You mentioned you had a meet-and-greet and your fans come up to you and treat you like a god.
Yeah, shit sucks. It's so annoying because I wish they cared more about themselves. Not in a negative sense.
Have their own self-worth.
Exactly. That's just what I would want for people. You should look at me and be like, he's not shit. Because I look at me and I feel like I'm not shit. And it's cool because I think they're not shit either. I don’t think the next man is shit. I think everyone is the same, we all on the same path of life and one day you're gonna fucking die, you gonna stink, and they put embalming fluid in you, and you might come back as a pony or something. But until then it's like, everyone's pretty even.
I don't like—because if I'm so great it's like, how do you feel about yourself? Are you okay? Do you love yourself? Because I would like that for you.
That's more important than listening to you and finding meaning?
Way more important than listening to me is them loving themselves. I would never pay for a meet and greet to meet me.
You mentioned a pony—if you were reincarnated, what's the thing you want to come back as?
I don't think any of that shit's real. What movie did we just see, Tyler [one of Vince Staples’ friends]?
Tyler: The Prodigy. [A movie about a hyper-intelligent (white) eight-year-old who takes a demonic turn.]
Yeah, I'd come back as a little white boy. I'd use my privilege for good. Or not, I wouldn't actually. I'd be horrible. I would be wilding if I were white. We'd probably start a frat right now. [Laughs] At Brown.
But I'm black so you know, and I'm very proud of it. And it's also Black History Month so happy Black History Month to everybody in the room.
What do you do when you're on the tour bus to pass the time?
Sleep.
That's it?
Really.
I know you're playing Nintendo Switch.
I hate Nintendo Switch. We play Call of Duty. If I can, I'd probably sleep till 3:00. [Touring] is exhausting. Not in a negative sense. Just there's a lot of running around, a lot of traveling, a lot of meeting people keeping it high energy and things like that. You have to put on for the people.
But you have to be doing something. What are you streaming on Netflix?
I've been watching Umbrella Academy. Bro, you don't understand how simple of a person I am.
The Umbrella Academy is good!
It's cool, yeah, I haven't seen the whole thing yet. I'm on [episode] two.
When I'm at home, I'm good. I really don't leave my house. I've lived a full life. My thing about the tour is that I'm working towards affording peace. I can afford peace now. So I don't want to go out here do all this other shit. I've been cool, I've been to parties, done the girl thing, had money before in my career, so it's like, I'm done.
I'm trying to buy a house and then I'm straight.
Then stop touring or stop making music?
I'm for sure not going to be doing this shit forever. Why would I? It's a scam.
Making music is a scam?
Yes. I mean, when you're black. When you're a rapper. How many rappers do you think have lived?
How many rappers do I think have lived?
And been successful, had careers. Would you say that's in the hundreds? Give me a number, would you say it's hundreds or thousands?
Hundreds.
It's three that have been considered overwhelmingly successful.
Who are they?
Jay-Z, Puffy, and, like, Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre's not a rapper. Even if you count people that we think, but we know the rich-rich ones are Jay-Z and Puffy. If that's two, that's not enough. And Will Smith, but people don't look at Will Smith as a rapper. So three out of probably three-or-four hundred sounds like a scam to me.
You don't think Kanye and Drake are successful?
No. Are they Jay-Z or Puffy?
They're not Jay-Z and Puffy but—
It's not a good enough percentage. It's good enough, right, but when they're 45 years old they won't be touring stadiums like the Eagles. Or the Rolling Stones or like all these other people. LL Cool J can't tour like the Eagles.
You can only get so far [with hip-hop]. Jay-Z and Puffy make their money from business ventures more than they did from music. So why would I do this forever?
I'm sure people have dreams and passions but that's not really my whole life. I'm not like [does whiney voice] "Oh, I want to be a musician so I can spread my..." That's not my thing. That might be a thing for certain people but not me. So I can't see myself doing it.
What's your thing then?
I don't have one.
Where did you get this sweater? Did Calvin send it to you?
Nah, I don't fuck with him [Simons]. I don't fuck with anybody who tries to lowkey undermine black people for no reason. Because what he said about Virgil is hilarious since they're like the same.
But you're wearing Calvin right now.
So? It's still fuck him. I'm not a big fan of that guy. They're not what they create. They can create whatever but I can think they're dickheads.
You're just into the Roadrunner?
Mm-hmm. I don't care who made it. He's no longer with them, so.
Can I run through a couple current event things with you—what do you think of what's going on with Tristan Thompson and Khloe Kardashian?
Shit, that's not my business. And I think everybody who is obsessed with that on the internet is a loser. I really think that they're lame as fuck. I think everyone involved is a fucking loser. I think the journalists are fucking losers. I think the people who are making jokes out of people's lives are all fucking losers because they know who they do that shit to.
This is my thing: I apply everything as if it were me. So when—what's his name? When Jerry O'Connell is on The Shade Room cracking jokes and being funny. If something happened to me and Jerry O'Connell tried to crack a joke, we are going to come find you. And then what? But they know who to play with.
I don't believe in that world, I believe in my reality. They can play like that over there. I mind my business so if something happened to me and that starts happening it's going to be real sick for the ones that's... it's going to be sick. But you know, let them have fun.
I wish the best to everyone who's going through anything in life in front of the public eye because life is very real. But people's lives are so pathetic they have to mock others, and that's for anything. From the 21 Savage situation to the Cardi B, Offset situation. Any situation where people go through real-life things and people start to mock them, I can tell you haven't been through anything.
You mean with the 21 Savage memes?
Yeah, what happens if he come find you? Then you're the victim, right?
Sure, technically.
Yeah, I'm fine with that. I have no problem being the defendant. But we're staying out of trouble and shit like that, just living a positive life. But I'm not a fan of things like that, I think it's not cool.
What about this whole Jussie Smollett thing?
Ah, man, free the Juice Man. He's just running a little scam. Shit, the fact he feels like he has to do that says more about this world and less about him. Because nobody wants to do that. Hopefully he don't get time because police are smoking people, falsifying police reports, and they get to go home so let my boy go home.
Last one: Bernie Sanders announced he’s running in 2020 this week.
I don't really follow politics like at all. [Turns to his friend LeKen] Who I fuck with?
AOC?
I don't know who that is.
Alexandria Oc—
Don't say her name. [Laughs] I don't know who the fuck that is.
LeKen: Man, she just popped up on Twitter just talking that shit. She's one of those.
I fuck with anybody who will free all my friends, even the ones who are guilty. We got some triple-lifers. We got a lot of lifers. I got too many homies in jail so I don't follow politics. It don't mean nothing where I come from.
Did you watch the Grammys at all?
You know I don't watch the Grammys.
I figured you probably didn't. It's just irrelevant to you?
Yeah. But I understand the importance for musicians to have your life's work culminate into something big. I can definitely understand that.
But for you?
I'm cool. I'll take like a Daytime Emmy, that shit be fire. Gimme the sitcom syndicated episodes. Let's get this money.
Put you on The View.
Nah, I don't want to do talk shows.
That's how Whoopi Goldberg got her Daytime Emmy.
I'd rather do a real show. Scripted. I can do like All My Children and get a Daytime Emmy, right? I'll do a soap. I'll go goofy with a soap. Dead Homies, bro, the soap.