Twenty-three-year-old wunderkind Vince Staples took to the stage at 9 p.m. sharp to a hyped up crowded of fashionable teens and twenty-somethings. Opening with "Lift Me Up," off his landmark record Summertime '06, while bathed in dramatic, blue light, it was clear that Staples had already mastered the art of rapping live.
While lesser performers are quick to yell their lyrics, destroying all semblance of what their verses originally sounded like, Staples was good at checking his vocals, making sure that his high octane performance stayed in line with classically smooth deliveries.
Working his way through Summertime while running back and forth across the stage like a young, Levi's-wearing prizefighter, it was clear that while Staples himself was on, his DJ was not. Missing cues and pumping up the bass abrasively higher than necessary, Staples began to carry the weight of the performance on his shoulders alone; his stage partner proved incapable of serving as hype man and DJ at the same time.
Launching into a few new songs throughout the set, and ending with Staples jumping into the crowd during "Blue Suede," it was clear that despite technical difficulties, Staples still came out on top.
While lesser performers are quick to yell their lyrics, destroying all semblance of what their verses originally sounded like, Staples was good at checking his vocals, making sure that his high octane performance stayed in line with classically smooth deliveries.
Working his way through Summertime while running back and forth across the stage like a young, Levi's-wearing prizefighter, it was clear that while Staples himself was on, his DJ was not. Missing cues and pumping up the bass abrasively higher than necessary, Staples began to carry the weight of the performance on his shoulders alone; his stage partner proved incapable of serving as hype man and DJ at the same time.
Launching into a few new songs throughout the set, and ending with Staples jumping into the crowd during "Blue Suede," it was clear that despite technical difficulties, Staples still came out on top.
