Vince Staples today unveiled his eighth studio album, Dark Times, via Blacksmith Records / Def Jam Recordings. This album marks a new era in the prolific artist’s career, blending dense lyricism with lush, layered beats, and offering wry, melancholic observations about life, while finding pockets of light in an endless dark.
Dark Times features minimal guest voices, relying on samples, studio friends, and a narrative outro by iconic alt singer-songwriter Santigold, who shares an apocalyptic yet awe-inspiring dream with Staples. Notable moments include the track “Liars,” which incorporates an excerpt from a 1973 conversation between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin about Black love, and “Government Cheese,” where Staples raps about an imprisoned friend reaching out after seeing him on TV.
The album balances its introspective themes with celebratory tracks such as “Étouffée,” a bouncy ode to Staples’ Louisiana roots, and “Little Homies,” a message encouraging the younger generation. “Freeman,” the final song before Santigold’s outro, showcases Staples’ reflective coolness.
Ahead of the album’s release, Staples shared the first single and visual for “Shame On the Devil.”
“It’s a testament to where I am right now and how I view things—it’s just a timestamp,” Staples says of the album. “I might not feel like that again tomorrow. But in the process of making this project, these were the things that spoke to me.”
In support of Dark Times, Staples will embark on his headlining BLACK IN EUROPA TOUR, starting June 4th in Cologne, Germany. The tour will visit Berlin, Paris, London, and Manchester before concluding in Birmingham, UK, on June 13. Staples will also perform at various European festivals in August, including Oya in Oslo, Flow Festival in Helsinki, and HipHop Open in Stuttgart. For tickets and the full list of dates, visit www.vincestaples.com/tour.
