“Bagbak,” Vince Staples
People talk about the younger generation like they have no clue what is going on. With generational mascots like Tekashi 69, it is hard to discern anything from the popular Hip-Hop but party and gangsta music. However, there are some artists (from the West Coast) who have position themselves in the tradition of Ice Cube and Ice T, Chuck D and KRS One, Scarface and Andre Benjamin, where they you hard-hitting hood influence lyrics to craft musical masterpieces that challenge the government and status quo.
Vince Staples is such an artist and his single “Bagbak,” so bop ready, is an exquisite example of that.
The song’s title is slang for “back up” or “back off.” There in its 2 minutes and 41 seconds, Vince is unapologetically calling out for not just representation, but representation for darker melanated people. Color identity and issues surrounding complexion have affected Black people since the days of enslavement. And with this song he brings it to the forefront with lines like, “This is for my future baby mama … Hope your skin is black as midnight” or “Pray the police don’t come blow me down ’cause of my complexion.”
His words are far from some ignorant hood dude, asking for you to see his Black skin. He is setting up his own model of protest that intentionally interjects his race into his complicated understanding of politics and power.
“Prison system broken, racial war commotion … Until the president get ashy, Vincent won’t be votin’ … We need Tamikas and Shaniquas in that Oval Office … Obama ain’t enough for me, we only getting started … The next Bill Gates can be on Section 8 up in the projects … So ’til they love my dark skin … B*tch I’m goin’ all in.”
The future is not lost on Vince Staples at all.