"As the world burns, I have decided to release this album": Vince Staples announces new record Cry Baby

Where his previous records – 2022’s Ramona Park Broke My Heart and last year’s Dark Times – turned a melancholic, introspective lens on home and self, Cry Baby is said to shift the focus outward. According to the rapper, the album processes the repeating cycles of American upheaval with sharper clarity and marks a notable shift musically: Staples built each track around live instrumentation rather than sampled beats. Cry Baby is released on Loma Vista on 5 June and follows previous records released with Def Jam and the Talib Kweli-co-founded label Blacksmith.

“Blackberry Marmalade,” comes with a first-person shooter-style video and was directed by Staples and Bradley J. Calder. Posting to X yesterday, Staples noted "YouTube has age-restricted the Blackberry Marmalade video, so if you are over the age of 18, make sure to share it with the youth around you. Our children deserve the truth."

Cry Baby artwork

Cry Baby tracklist

“Blackberry Marmalade”
“Go! Go! Gorilla”
“White Flag”
“Run and Hide”
“TV Guide”
“The Big Bad Wolf”
“Only In America”
“Do You Know The Devil”
“Cotton”
“7 In the Morning”