A Year of Attunement #1: Vince Staples – Smile 

Track Info
Track Name: Smile
Artist: Vince Staples
Producer: DJ Dahi
Album: Prima Donna
Track Number: 3
Duration: 4:21
Additional Notes: Vince Staples’ newest project Prima Donna is coming off the coattails of his sprawling 20 song double album Summertime ’06. Compared to ’06, Prima Donna is a shorter, yet focused, experimental project.

I picked “Smile” as the premier post for the “Year of Attunement” series mostly due to the timing of its release, but also because it stood out to me as an important conversation that my peers and I need to have about what it means to achieve success. Millennials are experiencing a new mutation of “Keeping up with the Joneses,” where microwave ovens and television sets are replaced with professional prestige and career advancement. While ambition is important, and I’m not innocent in this regard, relationships made post-college feel like we’re accumulating professional capital. I often find myself posing the internal question “How can this person help further my goals?”

And this is where the third track of Prima Donna comes in. On “Smile,” Staples is experiencing similar feelings of remorse, particularly on the lines “I know that money come and go so money / not my motive no mo’,” and “I left the street where I’ve grown / To chase the yellow brick road / I heard they paved it with gold I turned around and seen they pissed on it.” We see a disillusioned Staples as he laments his early career ambitions. While he achieved ever elusive, undefined, success, Staples realizes it’s at the cost of relationships he once held dear. Vince’s childhood in Long Beach and the bittersweet memories that come up is often a subject in his music. The lyrics mentioned above suggest the paradox that in order for Vince to be successful, he must abandon the place that he owes his success to.

The idea that success comes at a cost is nothing new in pop-culture, but it’s how Staples enters into this conversation in the context of his previous works that makes the message on this track particularly striking. On a typical song from the Long Beach rapper you will hear his indifferent voice dance through blunt punch lines with a flow that almost feels like he’s bored (and that’s not an insult, Staples delivery makes rapping sound easy). But throughout Prima Donna, tracks are interrupted by Staples stream of conscious reflection as he’s alone with his suicidal thoughts. It’s an invitation into a rare moment of vulnerability that we don’t normally see from this artist.

There are several reasons that Staples is battling bouts of depression through Prima Donna (post traumatic stress, survivor’s guilt, a general existential crisis, etc.). On “Smile” in particular, these thoughts are brought on by feelings of isolation that many young adults experience. The opening hook “How you feelin’ everybody / Hope you had a nice day / Sometimes I feel all alone / Sometimes I can’t get away / I feel my life is in danger / Every night when I lay,” serves as a primer to the conversation he enters throughout the rest of the song. The “danger” he refers to is likely foreshadowing the oft repeated lines “Sometimes I want to give it up” and “Sometimes I want to kill myself.”

I find myself relating to the themes of “Smile” despite the fact that my experiences are virtually nothing like Staples’. Where I was raised in a stable, safe environment, Vince was surrounded by danger. While I’m still trying to find success in my pursuits Vince has gotten to Oz and seen behind the curtain. But at our cores, we can both relate on the universal experience of relationships drifting apart in pivotal life moments. We both are likely surrounded by plenty of quality people, but cannot help the feeling of isolation. When I listen to “Smile,” I think of how our relationships evolve as we grow older. Hanging out, happy hours, mingling, and much more all become “networking opportunities” where the authenticity of the relationship inevitably is brought into question.

So do your friends a favor and smile for them.

Thanks for reading the first ever “Year of Attunement”, for more information about this series, read the introduction blog post!

About A Year of Attunement

The other day I was talking with my younger sister and she asked me “What kind of music do you listen to?” To put our conversation briefly, I didn’t know how to answer the question. Sure I have a handful of artists that I go back to from time to time, but pinning down that specific sound that defines “my music” has become a challenge. In every description of my musical taste that I’ve tried to offer up, there is some contradiction in the description. To that end, I’ve decided to start this new series: “A Year of Attunement”.

Every post in the Attunement will be about a specific song. The song could be a classic, a recent hit, an earworm that burrows itself into all my playlists that week, etc. I’ll provide all the front end info of the song (who performs it, what album it’s on, how long it is, etc.) as well as a blurb of my personal thoughts on the project. Then, I’ll do an analysis of what stands out to me on the song, and how I find it significant. By the end of any given Attunement, I’m hoping that you’ll gain some insight into what I gravitate towards when I listen to music. This series is my way too complex way of answering the age old party ice breaker: “What kind of music do you listen to?”