I became a fan of Vince Staples the minute I heard “Hands Up,” his throbbing cut from his Hell Can Wait EP. The context is important since I first heard the song after Darren Wilson’s murder of Michael Brown. Staples didn’t write the song as a response to the shooting...

Every now and then over the last few years, you’ll see people online share posts or comment underneath them about Kendrick Lamar’s absence and how his new work is long overdue. It’s sensical since his greatest peers — Drake and J. Cole, just to name a couple — have released...