WATCH: Vince Staples On Scriptwriting And Breaking Stereotypes With New Netflix Series

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‘The Vince Staples Show’ brings viewers in the mind of one of rap’s most creative stars.

Transcript

00:00 You want to be remembered as a good person.

00:02 All the titles, all the other stuff, don't really matter to me.

00:06 You can attach to whichever one of those you connect with the most.

00:09 Just being a good person, treating people decently, especially for my upbringing, that's

00:12 not something that we were taught.

00:14 So it's something I'm trying to learn over time.

00:16 That's something that's really important to me, is just making sure that you're a good

00:19 person and you're treating people fairly and making the most out of your life.

00:29 I bailed you out last week.

00:31 We ain't got no chicken for you!

00:33 Next!

00:34 That was cool.

00:36 Come on, man!

00:38 Hey, cuz!

00:40 Let me hold something, nephew.

00:42 I wanted to ask you, man, what was the initial idea that sparked you to create this show?

00:50 I feel like when I first started doing music, a lot of the elements in my music that people

00:57 highlighted were visual, whether it was stage shows, stage lighting, music videos, things

01:02 of that nature.

01:03 So it just made me think about visual format in a broader sense.

01:10 Around 2015, probably 2016, I just started taking meetings, trying to figure out how

01:14 to get a show done.

01:17 After those meetings, taking the proper steps to acclimate myself to the environment, doing

01:23 some voiceover work, doing dozens, hundreds of auditions, having a couple small roles

01:31 in a couple films and television shows.

01:34 And then we just got to this point to where we did some shorts on YouTube for music-related

01:40 stuff.

01:41 And then that helped open a couple doors.

01:43 And then now we're here.

01:45 Got situated before COVID and then picked up after COVID was over, thankfully.

01:50 Now we're coming out in a couple days.

01:52 So it was a long, long journey, but it panned out.

01:56 Congratulations with that too, man.

02:00 You spoke about your music too.

02:01 So I want to ask you, you're one of the most creative musicians that we have.

02:06 How did you approach writing the script for this show?

02:08 Was it the same or similar to the way you write music?

02:11 And what ways did they differ?

02:14 Just got some really good advice from Cal Matic, who has worked closely with me on this

02:18 project and the ones previously.

02:21 He's like, we're trying to have these meetings going through shows.

02:24 He's like, "If you don't write this show, it's not going to be the way you want it to

02:26 be.

02:27 So you need to figure out how to do it.

02:29 Download Final Draft."

02:30 I bought it, downloaded it.

02:31 I sat on the phone with Maurice Williams, one of our writers, and asked him, "How do

02:37 I do this?

02:38 How do I do that?"

02:39 Jeff Padnall as well, just getting advice from him.

02:42 And literally just, it was like learning how to write again.

02:46 As far as from a music standpoint, just the structure, the way to utilize the programs,

02:51 what a scene is, how long a script is.

02:53 This was all stuff that I was learning for the first time.

02:55 So thankfully I had so many people involved in the process that were able to give me advice

03:01 on how they do things and how I should do things.

03:04 And that would infer my decisions from Kenya to E Andelman.

03:07 It was so many people that were on the set of this.

03:10 Don't want to leave nobody out.

03:11 Crystal Jenkins, Amy Hubs, Wynter Coleman, so many writers.

03:15 Lola Rajele, Jaxter Loach, everybody in the writing room just really helped.

03:19 It helped me understand that this is different than music.

03:23 And understanding that it was different than music, I was able to apply my thought process

03:27 to a new medium, which just made it feel free, so to say.

03:33 So rapper, actor, producer, all kind of titles can be attached to your name, my brother.

03:40 When it's all said and done, what do you want the people to remember most about Vince

03:44 Staples?

03:45 I mean, that's a good question.

03:48 A lot of times we think of these things.

03:50 Well, me personally, it's just, you want to be remembered as a good person.

03:54 All the titles, all the other stuff, doesn't really matter to me.

03:58 You can attach to whichever one of those you connect with the most.

04:01 Just being a good person, treating people decently, especially for my upbringing, that's

04:04 not something that we were taught.

04:06 So it's something I'm trying to learn over time.

04:09 That's something that's really important to me, is just making sure that you're a good

04:12 person and you're treating people fairly and making the most out of your life.

04:15 Well, Vince, I appreciate you.

04:17 My brother, thank you so much, man.

04:19 Good luck on everything.

04:20 It's an amazing show, man.

04:21 I appreciate you.

04:21 (upbeat music)

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