Although takes a new direction musically on Big Fish Theory, there is a unifying theme with his debut album: water. Waves adorned the cover of Summertime '06, he christened his first independent tour the Life Aquatic Tour and now the CD features a large goldfish. "It's part of who I am, and the connection you have when you live by the water," explains the Long Beach, Los Angeles-born rapper. Summertime
… '06 put him firmly on the map in 2015 as an up-and-coming hip hop talent. He takes the next step on the delightfully short successor. Staples has a pleasant, fluid style of rapping, which goes wonderfully well with the mostly electronic rhythms. The highlights include Crabs In A Bucket (with singer Kilo Kish and Justin Vernon from Bon Iver), the grime-like Homage and single BagBak. It's a pity that Big Fish Theory collapses after the first three songs. If he manages to prevent that next time, Vince Staples will really be among the big fish in hip-hop. (RME)more
