At the start of the year, rap artist and actor Vince Staples released his biographical series, The Vince Staples Show, on Netflix. The first episode arrived on February 15th and received warm critical appraisal before a pleasing four further episodes to complete the first season.
In the show, we follow Staples as he navigates his everyday life in Long Beach, California. Despite his fame and fortune, Staples constantly finds himself caught up in a series of comical mishaps, antics, and chaotic situations.
The premiere episode, titled Pink House, began with Staples facing an unexpected arrest. During his short stint in jail, he met an enthusiastic fan and fellow musician. However, Staples confesses that his passion for music has diminished over time and reveals that acting isn’t high on his list of priorities either.
Staples was inspired by Donald Glover’s Atlanta, which took a similar angle in semi-autobiographical comedy. As the first episode reflects, Staples is looking to explore different passions following a successful start to his career in music.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in a recent interview, Staples revealed that he is still planning where to take the second season of his show. Following such success, a follow-up seems confirmed, but the pressure is on to maintain the allure.
Reflecting on his success with The Vince Staples Show, Staples recognised that not everyone gets the opportunity Netflix offered him. “I’m grateful. I got to do something that isn’t really done on that network, or just done in general, with trying to break format and conventional comedy,” he said.
Continuing, he noted that season two isn’t fleshed out just yet but he seems excited about the next step. “I’m just trying some new things,” he added. “So, I’m very happy that people embraced it, and we’ll see how they feel about it moving forward. We’re still trying to see what’s going to happen with that. But, looking forward to other opportunities in the medium.”
Staples revealed that his work is usually somewhat esoteric and so he was surprised to see how universally praised his show was upon its arrival. “I don’t really make things that people [enjoy] like that, just to be honest,” he said. “I think I have a niche fan base. I’ve never had an extreme level of success.”
Staples concluded: “I was honestly surprised by the way that it was received. But, yeah, man, I just feel like this show went very well, and especially for first-time writing, first-time producing, first-time starring in all of these things, I’m grateful for that.”
