- Vince Staples has well and truly cemented himself as an unrelenting, mouthy force in hip hop activism. Last year’s Prima Donna EP was already full of self-reflection and black rage and that sense of humour which helps the bitter pills go down. Staples has become a beloved addition to the regular GQ comedy segment where he reviews “every ****ing thing” and other internet video detritus: the guy knows funny. What might set Staples apart the most though is, he's an everyman – he doesn't concerns himself with braggadocio and has no curated image (he wears converse because he doesn’t want his fans who aspire to be like him to spend ludicrous amounts of money on sneakers like he did aspiring to be like his rap idols). Staples has well and truly earned his right to exercise some bragging on Big Fish but, again, political activism is the solid focus (he tells the president to suck his dick on debut single BigBak). If that all sounds a bit tense, like you don't know if you can take another outraged political rap manifesto, don't fret, there's a whole heap of glitzy G-Funk inspired anthems littered throughout, giving a cool and collected nod to Staples' native Los Angeles.

In keeping with the Hollywood glitz, there's an illustrious guest-list, including Kendrick Lamar on the menacing SOPHIE and Flume produced track Yeah Right, which is bound to draw immediate attention from hip hop aficionados. It’s an urgent anthem from two of hip hop’s most intimidating and imposing contemporary voices. The song delves into the fight for status and division amongst rappers and is an agitated and sonically fascinating addition. The Flume produced beat is almost industrial – Lamar raps about how New York rappers innovate slang “deadass” while Los Angeles rappers worry about “dead homies.” This track is destined to cause a stir in a stale hip hop community where Lamar and Staples are inarguably the most daring and political voices right now.

Sinister opener Crabs In The Bucket sees Staples reflect on the social issues that affect black Americans as he states “battle with the white man day by day / They don’t ever wanna see the black man eat / Nails on the black man hands and feet.” Much like the bulk of his work, Crabs In The Bucket is bluntly political and reflective. There is a distinctive Vogue-like beat backing the track that sounds like it could have as easily been a beat featured on Azealia Banks’s Fantasea, years ago.

This is why it’s so surprising that the song is followed up by the throbbing G-Funk party jam in Big Fish which, though still doing some pretty heavy discussions of race relations, is backed by a celebratory beat over which Staples raps “I was up late night balling so far from my parent’s misfortune” indicating that he remains alert and aware to the threats that are out there. Vince recounts hunger and fears of being shot at while waiting for the bus, anxieties that are still a little too close for comfort.

On 745 -another G-funk inspired number that could have just as easily find itself being rapped over by YG- Staples talks droptops and admits “all my life man I want fast cars”, the song is easily the most repetitive but also the most infectious of the record. A bit of relief helps you get through, because this record also gets real sad – Alyssa Interlude features a devastating snippet from an Amy Winehouse interview and Vince singing, pained and muffled: “loved that song when we were kids. Now it makes me want you here. Sometimes people disappear – think that was my biggest fear. I should have protected you.”

Party People is a pulsating but frustrated party anthem where Staples fumes: “human issues are too strong for tissues” and “how am I supposed to have a good time when death and destruction is all I see?” Staples ends up just screaming at his “party people” and the tirade of deranged yelps and yelling might lead you to believe he doesn't expect his partygoers to have a particularly pleasant time.

Perhaps that track best reflects the album – Staples is at his wits-end: tired of America’s bullshit and political chaos. Through it all he still manages to stand, tall and self-assured in the line-up of contemporary rappers. Vince Staples is a big fish and he makes the pond look small. He also makes you realise very few other rappers flip-flopping around in there, really ready to tear shit up.

- Lizzy Irwin.