I just finished watching The Vince Staples Show on Netflix. This limited drama series of only five episodes was the most entertaining show I’ve watched in a while.
The Vince Staples Show was released on Feb. 15th. It stars rapper Vince Staples, and is a semi-fictitious story of his everyday life as he deals with gang culture in California and being a successful rapper.
Kenya Barris is one of the executive producers of the show. When I see Kenya Barris in the credits, I know the show is going to be funny, and this did not differ. Barris is the creator of several shows and movies including Blackish, You People, and BlackAF.
I know Vince Staples from his music and his small role in the show Abbott Elementary, but this show gave me a lot of insight into his personality. Although the show is a fictitious drama, Staples acts himself in many ways. His dry sense of humor is very prominent.
The deadpan manner of the show makes it hilarious. The extreme violence and absurd events are not addressed by the characters but treated like regular occurrences. In one episode, Staples is at an amusement park with his girlfriend to celebrate her brother’s birthday. Throughout the day Staple is followed then beaten to near death by a pack of random mascots. The episode ends before we learn the purpose or the identity behind the mascots. The randomness and anonymity of the events make it fun to watch. The show is dark in a way that makes it difficult to look away.
The way people perceive success and fame is a large topic in the show. While Staples and the people close to him see him as famous, many people he encounters don’t know who he is. It addresses what it means to be famous, especially amongst the African American community. Many white people Staples came across in the show simply did not care about him.
One of my favorite components of the show was the music that begins every episode. Each episode had its own overture that brought upon a twelve seconds of peace before resuming the show.
The only criticism I have for this series is that it was too short. Ending after just five episodes, the show felt incomplete. As it has had a lot of success over the past few weeks, more episodes in the future will hopefully be released.
