Dark Times (album)

Dark Times is the sixth studio album by American rapper Vince Staples. It was released on May 24, 2024, through Blacksmith Records and Def Jam Recordings, and is his final release with the latter label after more than 10 years.

Background
Vince Staples was discovered by Dijon "LaVish" Samo and Chuck Wun, alongside his cousin Campbell Emerson. LaVish took Staples on a trip to Los Angeles, where he befriended the Odd Future collective's members Syd tha Kyd, Mike G, and Earl Sweatshirt. Although he had not intended to become a rapper, he made some guest appearances on their songs, most notably "epaR" from Earl Sweatshirt's March 2010 mixtape Earl. Staples released his official debut mixtape Shyne Coldchain Vol. 1 on December 30, 2011, via applebird.com; and also released a collaborative mixtape with producer Michael Uzowuru, titled Winter in Prague in October 2012. After making three appearances on Earl's debut studio album Doris the next year, including the single "Hive", the liner notes revealed Staples had recently signed to the hip hop record label Def Jam Recordings, falling under producer No I.D.'s ARTium imprint, as well as Blacksmith Records. The mixtape Shyne Coldchain II was released on March 13, 2014, seven months after the signing was revealed.

After releasing his first three albums Summertime '06, Big Fish Theory and FM! on Def Jam, Staples signed a new deal with the Motown record label, releasing his eponymous fourth album and Ramona Park Broke My Heart respectively in 2021 and 2022. In March 2024, Staples announced a European tour called Black in Europa, which would be scheduled to kick off in June in Cologne. When interviewed by radio DJ Big Boy the next month, Staples revealed that he would release a new album before his tour.

On May 19, 2024, Staples announced the album's title, cover and tracklist via X and Instagram, while also prewiring a snippet of the lead single "Shame on the Devil", which would be released the following day, with vocals from Baby Rose.

Critical reception
Dark Times was met with universal acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on ten reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Fred Thomas described Staples performance as "Seemingly effortless" and claimed he was, "in top form." He also called it, "another chapter of his uniquely smoke-colored narratives, form-fitting production, and perfectly balanced expressions of heaviness and acceptance."

Writing for Beats Per Minute, John Amen commented, "If Staples' self-titled introduced us to the artist's ability to interrogate a limbo, Dark Times is more detailed and specific in its mission and references; as a result, he seems less guarded, more vulnerable". Amen concluded, "Staples dances between despair and the commitment to continue searching – for inspiration, equanimity, for a sense of wholeness, as elusive as that may be".

In Exclaim!'s review, writer Wesley McLean noted that the album plays like a fitting conclusion to the trilogy beginning with 2021's Vince Staples, elaborating that " In the three acts of this unofficial trilogy, Staples has given us his self-portrait, followed by a world-building love letter to his hometown and insular reflections on his life experiences and their effect on him."

Track listing
Notes
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Musicians

 * Vince Staples – vocals (all tracks), vibraphone (track 10)
 * LeKen Taylor – keyboards, percussion programming (tracks 1, 3, 8, 10, 11); drums (1, 3, 10); bass, percussion (1); piano (10), synth bass (11)
 * Tyler Page – keyboards (tracks 1, 5, 9), programming (4), vibraphone (10)
 * Carissa Murray – background vocals (track 1)
 * Brazzen – keyboards, programming, sound effects (track 1)
 * Rahm Silverglade – keyboards (tracks 2, 7), synthesizer (2); bass, percussion, programming (7)
 * Corey Smyth – background vocals (track 2)
 * Alex Goose – programming (2)
 * Teej – guitar, keyboards, percussion (track 4)
 * Samuel Ivoko – background vocals (track 5), additional vocals (6)
 * Saint Mino – keyboards (tracks 5, 12)
 * Baby Rose – additional vocals (track 5)
 * Maria Zardoya – additional vocals (track 5)
 * Joe Harrison – bass, guitar (track 5)
 * Donald Robertson – speaker (track 6)
 * Kiah Victoria – background vocals (track 7)
 * Darian Thomas – strings (track 7)
 * Cardo – drums, programming (track 9)
 * J.LBS – keyboards, programming (track 9)
 * Maddy Davis – additional vocals (track 10)
 * Alexandra Taylor Diaz – additional vocals (track 11)
 * Ivan Hicks – additional vocals (track 11)
 * Kilo Kish – additional vocals (track 11)
 * Tasia Flores-Woods – additional vocals (track 11)
 * Matty Michna – background vocals, bass, guitar (track 12)
 * Xavi – drums (track 12)
 * Zachary Sekoff – keyboards (track 12)
 * Santigold – additional vocals (track 13)
 * Benny Bock – bass, keyboards, programming (track 13)
 * Julian Ali Rapaport – bass, keyboards, programming (track 13)
 * Caleb Laven – keyboards, synthesizer programming (track 13)
 * Ely Rise – piano (track 13)

Technical

 * Mike Bozzi – mastering (1–13)
 * Joe Visciano – mixing (1–13)
 * Tyler Page – engineering (tracks 1–6, 8–13), recording arrangement (5, 10, 13)
 * Sean Matsukawa – engineering (tracks 5, 10, 13)
 * Rahm Silverglade – engineering (track 7)
 * J. Rocc – engineering (track 9)
 * Caleb Laven – engineering (tracks 9, 10, 13)
 * Michael Uzowuru – recording arrangement (track 5)