All right, let’s get it out of the way: Netflix has a new show with rapper and actor Vince Staples, called The Vince Staples Show (from Thursday 15 February), and there is no way we are getting through this without referencing the fact that it shares some genetic material with rapper and actor-created shows Atlanta (which I loved) and Dave, which I loved right up until the last three minutes of the season three finale (come to think of it, I also hated the entire fifth episode of season three) – the entire Brad Pitt section! Come on!
This isn’t just because all three shows have an actor-rapper in them, by the way. As with Dave, Staples plays a version of himself inflected by fame: people come up to him and recognise him, certain doors are opened and wheels are greased as a result of who he is, he is randomly adored or hated by passersby, and that’s a really interesting and fun texture for a show to have. And, much like Atlanta, there’s a woozy, anything-could-happen quality to what’s going on (an episode set in an off-brand theme park is so Atlanta I did wonder whether they found a rejected script in a big bin behind the studios at FX). Right, I’m glad we cleared that up.
