Atwood Magazine writers assess Cry Baby as Vince Staples’ first fully independent album, noting its guitar-forward, post-punk production, blunt social critique, and uneven songwriting that divided the roundtable.
Cry Baby is Staples’ first fully independent album and leans into guitar-driven, post-punk textures to carry direct social and political commentary.
Writers praise the record’s abrasive, high-voltage production and its capacity to mirror national dysfunction, but some found the songwriting less consistently sharp than his best work.
Several contributors tied Cry Baby to Staples’ past releases — Summertime ‘06, Big Fish Theory, and FM! — noting continuity in aesthetic risk-taking even as he changes sonic approaches.
A truly unique hip-hop artist, and true aesthetic curator. Featured here are Atwood writers Ankita Bhanot, Ashley Littlefield, Jake Fewx, Josh Weiner, and Miranda Urbanczyk! Miranda Urbanczyk: I used to listen to his music regularly a few years back, but then slowly stopped listening to most rap music.
I didn't quite know what I was hearing, but I loved it – and I was most interested because I couldn't understand it. I heard the energy surrounding his set as his voice echoed between stages around the Colosseum. Ultimately, Cry Baby feels like an interesting artistic statement – one that takes risks and expands his palette, even if it doesn't always come together in a way that I found completely satisfying.
Roundtable: A Review of Vince Staples' 'Cry Baby'. — — To start, what is your relationship with Vince Staples' music? The atmosphere of the song is close to unsettling, yet still achieves an almost addictive quality.
The rapper sent the message during a recent episode of his Apple Music radio show.
In interviews, Vince Staples tends to be extremely funny but also flinty. He doesn't like being put into proscribed roles, and he says things that, from a certain angle, are at least a little bit incendiary. In one recent video interview, for instance, the TikToker FDffromthefuture asked him to name "the best Vince Sta
Atwood Magazine’s writers dive into Olivia Rodrigo’s bruised, mature, and meticulously crafted third album ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,’ a brilliantly conflicted portrait of romance as both r...
For as long as it’s existed, prestige rap has been the most deceptive trapdoor in hip-hop. Rappers old enough to remember “Slow Jamz” and “Jesus Walks” decide they need a party anthem and a conscious rap song. People who thought good kid, m.A.A.d city was the best album of the 2010s suddenly realize that they can’t hav
Atwood Magazine’s writers dive into Paul McCartney’s warm, reflective 20th solo album ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane,’ a Liverpool-rooted love letter to the memories that made him – unpacking its classic rock craftsmanship, its Beatles and...
New England “hardcore soft rock” band Milk St. let everything come roaring out on ‘Good Grief,’ a bruising, combustible third album where folk punk intimacy, blown-out alternative rock, and full-throated catharsis collide with guilt, family fracture, self-doubt, and the messy work of growing into yourself. Loud, unguar
Loading more related stories...
Open the app view to save this story, compare related coverage, and continue from the same source.