Vince Staples knows his worth. Earlier this week, as an elaborate troll, he launched a GoFundMe page to raise $2 million to finance an early retirement, giving haters and outspoken critics the opportunity to make him “shut the fuck up forever.” Aside from being an epic kiss-off to the gnats constantly buzzing in his mentions, the proposition is offering up simple math: His agency comes at a price; his words, thoughts, and feelings have cash value. “Get off of my dick or fund my lifestyle,” he says in an explainer video. “The choice is yours.” This clever, loaded compromise is another testament to his social savvy, and a reminder that he’s going to play this game by his rules. “Get the Fuck Off My Dick,” the new song that follows the GoFundMe promo, is somehow even more sardonic and sharp.
“Get the Fuck Off My Dick” reunites Vince with his Summertime ‘06 collaborator DJ Dahi, who takes a no-frills approach here, letting Vince’s barbs slice through. “This the sound I made, won’t nobody knock me off my wave,” he raps, taking credit for past innovations while carving out new space yet again. The production deviates from the avant-garde hip-house of last year’s Big Fish Theory, opting instead for keyboard minimalism and scratchy vocal loops. With more open space and the extra time afforded by the slower pace, his pliable flow shifts subtly throughout, expanding and contracting, gently pulling apart at each syllable. There’s a patience and composure to his rapping that the writing betrays with its abrasive insistence on being left alone: No more ambushing interviews, no more club appearances, and stop recording him in public, he commands. In between, he nimbly assesses all the glamour and scrutiny rap has brought him and how tired he is of managing such a lifestyle.
Amid all of the appraising, there are still underlying terrors from his past lingering, scarring from personal traumas. “We caught him slippin’, he in a coma/You got two choices, lose your life or your persona/I still hear voices from them nights I hit them corners,” he raps. The next moment, he’s suddenly in the MoMA, picking out furniture by Japanese designer Toshiyuki Kita, and deciding which big brand endorsement check to cash, Nike or Coke. It’s these kinds of characterizing jump cuts that make Vince Staples so captivating. “Get the Fuck Off My Dick” is one of rap’s best writers reconciling with a cynical world by responding in kind.
