(AllHipHop News) Say what you want about Vince Staples, but the Long Beach native is not afraid to speak his mind. The Fader got Staples to expound on some of his most infamous public statements.
Part of the filmed discussion was centered around the “Señorita” rhymer’s thoughts on politics. He explained why he chooses not to take part in the voting process.
“I don’t vote, but I have some after-school programs and things like that for kids. But other than that, I’m not a ‘fight the power’ type,” said Staples. “I’ve been through several presidents, and I don’t really know the difference.”
The 22-year-old Def Jam recording artist faced some backlash when he told Time that he didn’t understand why 1990’s Hip Hop gets a lot of credit. Vince doubled down on his controversial comments.
“In the 90’s you have Biggie, 2Pac, all that. But I said, ‘Name one rapper that was bigger than the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, or NSYNC,'” Staples argues. “Before Eminem, a rapper was never the biggest sh-t. They weren’t playing no f-cking stadiums like that.”
He continued, “You were not that important back then. It’s just the truth. It was small. It was brand new.”
It should be noted that numerous rap stars in the 1990’s earned significant pop culture accomplishments.
For example, Ice Cube made the successful transition to movies with classics such as Boyz N The Hood and Friday. While Will Smith starred in the hugely popular television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
On the music side, The Notorious B.I.G’s “One More Chance” tied Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson’s “Scream” for the Hot 100’s highest debut in history at the time, and the Brooklyn legend’s Life After Death album was certified Diamond (10 million units).
Also, Lauryn Hill’s masterpiece The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill became the first Hip Hop album to win the Grammy award for Album of the Year in 1999.
There was also a rapper named MC Hammer whose 1990 LP Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em went Diamond and was listed as one of the best-selling album of the decade ahead of The Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and the Spice Girls.
Watch Vince Staples interview below.