The summer of 2006: the summer that Vince Staples came of age, the summer that Vince Staples first experienced the pains of love and loss. Hell Can Wait was the prequel and Summertime ’06 is the main event. Summertime ’06 is a tale of two loves: love of a girl and love of the streets. Over the course of two discs, Vince takes us on a treacherous journey through the heart of Long Beach, California. Over the course of two discs, Vince tells us about the dire situation of those that he left behind. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most important period in Vince Staples’ life: Summertime ’06.
Before we begin, I want you to have a look at this Instagram post. In particular, I want you to focus on the phrase “love tore us all apart” because this is the key to understanding the album.
Summertime ’06 opens with the sounds of waves, seagulls and a single gunshot. In that instant, Vince launches into ‘Lift Me Up’, which is easily one of the best songs of the year. On this track, Vince paints a haunting picture of his hometown. However, he does this as an observer, as a person somewhat detached from the everyday trappings of gang life:
‘A prophet just like Moses, if Moses look like Shaka
Zulu, my .44 loaded, I’m aiming at Nirvana
My b**** look like Madonna, they staring at Kitana
Waiter still ain’t brought the chopsticks, should have brought the chopper
Uber driver in the cockpit look like Jeffrey Dahmer
But he looking at me crazy when we pull up to the projects’
Like he mentioned in his interview with NPR’s Microphone Check, Vince wants us to feel the fear of coming to Long Beach. He wants us to feel guilty about feeling afraid because it’s all fun-and-games until we experience it for ourselves. Vince criticises our tendency to watch from a distance, our tendency to vicariously live through musical entertainers who claim to give us a dose of ‘reality rap’:
‘Was standing on this mezzanine in Paris, France
Finna spaz cause most my homies never finna get this chance
All these white folks chanting when I asked ’em “where my n***** at?”
Going crazy, got me going crazy, I can’t get with that
Wonder if they know I know they won’t go where we kick it at‘
‘Lift Me Up’ is Vince Staples’ thesis statement, it’s everything that he sees wrong with modern day culture over some thumping 808s provided by No I.D. One could write a whole essay about this song but it’s time to get into ‘Norf Norf’.
‘Norf Norf’ is confirmation of Vince Staples’ ability as a potential hitmaker. Like A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q, Vince makes songs that might not chart on the Billboard 100 but are still groovy enough to be heard at any college party. Clams Casino’s beach-inspired production gives the song a hypnotic bounce that Vince spectacularly jumps on with his flow:
‘In the hood like a dollar sweet tea or a Louis Burger
You ain’t with the business n****
Who you murdered? You ain’t heard of Coldchain?
Best thang, smoking out the city
Riding round with the same shotgun that shot Ricky‘
This sense of living recklessly in Long Beach continues with the next two tracks and it isn’t until ‘Lemme Know’ that we get introduced to Vince’s first love: a girl voiced by the talented Jhené Aiko. On this track, Vince and Jhené go back-and-forth with their flirtatious rhymes until Jhené completely steals the show with her closing verse and prophetic warning to Vince:
‘I’mma let you know, that I got that dough
But if you take a toke
You gon’ be running round tripping till you get your hands on more, yeah
You gotta be certain cause ‘fore you consider f****** me
Cause you hit this s*** once I know you gon’ be in love with me’
The interesting thing about the last line is that it can serve as a double meaning for Vince (given what he gets up to on ‘Dopeman’). Arguably, it’s at this point that Vince falls in love with the streets as well and this all comes to a head on ‘Summertime’. However, before we get to that, let’s talk about ‘Jump Off The Roof’ for a second.
In one word, ‘Jump Off The Roof’ is sensational. The 808s, the screams and the cowbell all combine to create a collage of sounds that can only be described as chaotic brilliance. ‘Jump Off The Roof’ is No I.D. proving, once again, why he’s one of the greatest producers of all time. If Def Jam knows what’s good for them, they would push this song as the next single. Immediately.
‘Summertime’ is the emotional climax of the album. This is the moment when Vince has to choose between his two loves. This is the moment when Vince pours his heart out to the world and, for the first time in his life/career, is completely vulnerable:
‘My teachers told me we was slaves
My mama told me we was kings
I don’t know who to listen to
I guess we somewhere in between’
Unfortunately, this is also the moment when Vince Staple’s girlfriend rejects him, not knowing that her decision just sealed his fate to a life of gang banging (the same way that Kay’s rejection of Michael sealed Michael’s fate as the monster we see at the end of Godfather II).
It’s a shame that this album is a double album because ‘Summertime’ was a stunning conclusion to Disc 1. Its emotional honesty, cinematic production and melodic approach really wrapped up the narrative beautifully and had you begging for more.
Like Hell Can Wait, Summertime ’06 Disc 1 had a riveting story which was propelled by a depth of lyricism that instantly placed Vince Staples in the top-tier of rappers today. Honestly, if this album was just a single disc then Summertime ’06 could have been a classic/near-classic. Sadly, that’s not the case and we now have to move on to Disc 2.
As with all double albums, even classics like Death Certificate and All Eyez On Me, Summertime ’06 Disc 2 is filled with too much filler and significantly slows down the momentum built up by Disc 1.
Disc 2 deals with Vince’s love of the streets but it also shows his ambivalence to the lifestyle that comes with it. In particular, you frequently hear his disdain for the hereditary nature of gang life:
‘Living off of borrowed time, committing crimes that’s organised
Fortress ones and fortified, just tryna build my castle up
Dollar and a dream, at night time we masking up
The deadly game of tag, the older generations passed to us’
On this part of the album, Vince is actively involved in the scene. He doesn’t condemn it but he doesn’t condone it either. He simply makes his observations and trusts you to come to your own conclusions.
Beats wise, Disc 2 doesn’t really pick up until ‘Hang N’ Bang’, which is yet another instance of No I.D. greatness. This continues with the next two tracks: ‘C.N.B.’ and ‘Like It Is’. ‘C.N.B.’ is Vince expertly tackling the problem of institutionalised racism (‘more tan the man, the more alone and hopeless’) while ‘Like It Is is’ is his last will and testament, a summation of everything that he is and he hopes to be.
The lines that stand out on ‘Like It Is’ are the spoken word interludes, each one recapping a major theme on the album and an important philosophy in Vince Staples’ life:
“When I was in seventh grade my grandfather told me don’t get caught loving the streets cause they never gonna love you back. But I feel like it’s all we got so it’s all we really do love.”
But before all is said and done, Vince closes the album off with a chilling indictment on the culture vulture mentality that currently plagues hip-hop, evoking the same imagery of his Señorita video:
‘We live for they amusement like they view us from behind the glass
No matter what we grow into, we never gonna escape our past
So in this cage they made for me, exactly where you find me at
Whether it’s my time to leave or not, I never turn my back’
Vince Staples exists in a space between Kendrick Lamar and YG. He recognises that he’s part of the solution and part of the problem. He thrives off portraying a world of grey, a world where there isn’t right or wrong, just people who haven’t called themselves out on their own hypocrisies yet. Put good kid, m.A.A.d city, My Krazy Life and Summertime ’06 in a row and you will have all the different perspectives on West Coast gang banging in a nutshell.
On first listen, Summertime ’06 is a great album that, at times, feels overpowered by its stellar production. It’s a fantastic debut by a rapper who has a lot to offer (when he’s in the mood for it). However, if you dig a little deeper and read the lyrics in detail, you will find a superb coming-of-age story that is hip-hop’s equivalent to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye.
Rating – 4/5
Standout Tracks – ‘Lift Me Up’, ‘Norf Norf’, ‘Lemme Know’, ‘Jump Off The Roof’, ‘Señorita’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Hang N’ Bang’, ‘C.N.B’ & ‘Like It Is’
Most Valuable Player – Vince Staples & No I.D.
Nostalgic For The Present 
