The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.
Bobby Carter | July 23, 2021
At the midpoint of Vince Staples' Tiny Desk (home) concert, he gazes through the sun-soaked windows of his Hollywood Hills location and pauses. "You should see this view – I don't live here," he exclaims with pride. "I would never live here." As to why he wouldn't give in to the spoils of success and relocate to a fancy spot in the Hills or Calabasas, he explains in the lyrics of the song that follows, "THE SHINING": I could never do it / I'm too active. That sentiment, the push-pull relationship with his North Long Beach home base, is a dominant theme of his new self-titled album, which he tells NPR is "the clearest expression yet of who he is."
Despite years-long demand from our audience on YouTube, this was the perfect time for a Vince Staples Tiny Desk performance. We've very rarely seen him perform with a band in the past. Then there's the sound of his new work – Kenny Beats, seen playing bass, handled the bulk of the production of the album, Staples' most melodic to date. The band, outfitted in blue khaki suits, was able to recreate the sound of Vince Staples seamlessly (it's mostly made up of players from the album), and coast wonderfully through this four-song set, punctuated by Vince's signature, tongue-in-cheek humor between songs. Always willing to share the spotlight with future stars (see Snoh Aalegra), he closes with the assistance of another on the horizon, the singer Fousheé, on "TAKE ME HOME."
SETLIST:
"LAW OF AVERAGES"
"SUNDOWN TOWN"
"THE SHINING"
"TAKE ME HOME" (featuring Fousheé)
MUSICIANS
Vince Staples: vocals
Kenny Beats: bass
Gio "Dutchboi" Ligeon: guitar, vocals
Reske: keys, vocals
David Meyers Jr.: drums
Fousheé: vocals
