Vince Staples, Long Beach, California native rapper brought his “Smile, You’re on Camera” tour to College Street Music Hall on Feb. 26. He opened the show with “Feels Like Summer,” the first track off his most recent album “FM!”

The title of the tour “Smile, You’re on Camera,” tied in with the stage design. Screens were split up into different sections to resemble televisions, but a few of the screens were always streaming live views of the audience through the duration of the concert, which had the crowd excited and looking to spot themselves on the screens.

Staples has a reputation for having a low energy stage presence. After his last tour concluded in 2018, he received so much backlash from fans he released a single “Get the F*** Off My Dick.” He made it apparent that this song was for all the people that were giving him issues about his performance through an Instagram video post, which has since been deleted. Since then he has been receiving similar reactions from attendees of his current tour. Recently Staples interacted with a fan on Twitter who said she was disappointed in his performance: “@vincestaples u need to re-evaluate ur life.” Staples responded with: “What’s your cash app I’ll send you your money back we not doing this during Black History Month”.

His performance at College Street Music Hall was not extremely lively, but it wasn’t dull either.  

“Personally, I really enjoyed his music itself, and the stage production along with the show’s theme was very unique and I did appreciate that,” said sophomore communication major, PJ Tucker. “I definitely get why some people could be possibly offended by the fact that he wasn’t as high energy as he could be, but at the same time you kind of have to take into account the life of a touring artists and how taxing that can be on someone. Overall I did enjoy the show. ”

There was a large turnout for the show and the crowd danced along regardless of how Staples presented himself. Staples ended the show by saying a few words thanking the crowd for attending, and then he exited the stage as a Mac Miller tribute began to play on the screens.

The video was Miller’s tiny desk performance, a popular Youtube channel where artists play unplugged sessions of their music. It was rumored that Miller and Staples were going to go out on tour together, but Miller unexpectedly passed away. Attendees held their hands over their heads in a praying form to also pay respects to the late rapper.

The “Smile, You’re on Camera” tour will continue into early April, after which he is set to perform at Governors Ball Music Festival.

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