This album's been a long time in the making, with lead single Thuggin' being a couple of years old by now. Vince Staples has the potential to be the voice for a whole new generation of hip hop fans and I can't wait to see what he brings to his first full length album
The EP is an extremely cohesive project thanks to the production being grimy as fuck and Vince really gets his point across that Hell Can Wait because he's already living in it. On the EP I feel that Vince really stamps his identity on it more than he did on his mixtape and he sounds genuinely like his growing buzz has given him an extra layer of confidence. Thanks to some great features on Common's album I was quite excited for his Hell Can Wait EP when it eventually dropped and it didn't disappoint. I wasn't crazy about the tape but there were a couple of tracks that really caught my attention (Trunk Rattle & Nate) and put Vince on my radar for the future. Vince Staples isn't an artist I was familiar with before 2014, but I got introduced to him on his mixtape released in March, Shyne Coldchain Vol. Top Tracks: Thug Cry, The Devil Is A Lie, Rich Is Gangsta, Sanctified, In Vein I really think they managed to pay homage to a Hip Hop classic with this track but keep it original enough that it can stand on its own, thanks in a big way to the great production from J.U.S.T.I.C.E. The difference between the two though is that on Thug Cry, Rozay adds his own twist to the classic track with a bit of help from Lil' Wayne. Strangely enough the highlight of the album for me though has Rick Ross in dangerous territory touching on another classic, this time Souls of Mischief's timeless 93 Til Infinity.
There are a few missteps on the album though, including the weirdly popular "Nobody" which features French Montana and Rozay pissing all over Biggie's memory with a cover of You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You) that I struggle to think of a single worthwhile reason for its existence. This is definitely the project I've most enjoyed from Ross thanks to some thumping varied beats, great features and a strong performance from the man himself.
What really made me check out Mastermind though was his monster of a track he dropped late last year with Jay-Z "The Devil is a Lie". He's not the most complex of rap artists, but he has a certain undeniable charisma on the mic, has a good rhythm in his voice and can flow on a beat. I've never been a huge Rick Ross fan and could never really get into his albums before despite enjoying a lot of his features.
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