Ramona Park Broke My Heart
| Vince Staples
Ramona Park Broke My Heart
Ramona Park Broke My Heart (stylized in all caps) is the fifth studio album by American rapper Vince Staples, released April 8, 2022, through Motown Records and Blacksmith Records. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
The companion piece to his 2021 self-titled record diverges from the innovation and technical proficiency in favor of introspection and contemplation. It is a richly detailed, deadpan elegy for his stolen youth.
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Rolling Stone
The Long Beach rapper’s fifth album is richly detailed, musically sharp, and vocally casual.
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NME
Rapper shows depth and versatility.
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Complex
Vince Staples Is Writing Masterful Songs About Home.
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DIY Magazine
It finds him at his most confident, if not most innovative, and maybe his most comfortable.
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Clash Magazine
A brave record that asks awkward questions both of its maker and his audience, ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’ is a document of personal evolution and what its possible to bring along with you. An attempt to filter out the parts that truly matter, it’s a triumph, and perhaps the finest album yet in his storied career.
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Beats Per Minute
Ramona Park Broke My Heart is an illusion; Vince Staples’ latest LP finds him making far more ear-catching music than his previous effort, but the infectious beats and choruses are merely a facade. Rhymes injected with plight and calamity riddle the album as his survivor’s guilt is worn like a shameful badge for onlookers to see. His voice is consistently stroking it throughout the 16 tracks, ensuring it’s one of his most revealing bodies of work to date. A true and honest portrait of a complex human being.
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Glide Magazine
Ramona Park Broke My Heart is a strong example of Staples’ continuing progression, in this case specifically where it concerns his thematic and lyrical approach to those closest to him, both alive and passed away. Staples is always an artist worth following and once again on this project he has proved to be one worth our praise and admiration.
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The Needle Drop
Ramona Park is both a more thorough and inconsistent exploration of the themes and sounds of Vince's self-titled album.
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Peanut Butter Pope
Vince Staples’ introspections are moving in the right direction. He fuses his past and passions on Ramona Park Broke My Heart with fresh levels of maturity. It’s one of his most tangible records, if not his most, but let’s just say there are a few too many cliched trap beats.
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Hot New HipHop
Similar to previous albums, Staples examines the plight of marginalized communities serving as viewing entertainment for white suburbia, and the closing seconds of “SLIDE” takes the notion to profound new heights. We hear fireworks sounding off interchangeably with gunshots, followed by applause from an unspecified crowd. The vignette could naively be interpreted as the conclusion of a 4th of July firework show. However, in Staples’ world, it could represent America’s infatuation with the sensationalism of gang violence, consuming the tragedies through the lens of a performance rather than the consequences of systemic failures. It’s in these instances of social commentary where Staples separates himself as an original mind in a field of copycats and clout chasers.
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AllMusic
The production throughout Ramona Park Broke My Heart is metered and languid, with unrushed tempos and relaxed vocal deliveries on most of the material. Staples goes even deeper into memory and self-reflection on Ramona Park Broke My Heart, presenting his pain, glory, and contradictory emotions in sharper definition while turning in some of his most engaging music to date.
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Crack Magazine
Ramona Park foregos the glorify/vilify binary, instead exposing the moral tensions that exist between these two states. Staples has always been an accomplished storyteller, but here he leans into his past experience to create something that feels personal, unromanticised. Indeed, Ramona Park recalls generation-defining films like Boyz N the Hood and Moonlight; works of art which explore hope in pain, beauty in ugliness, and the way trauma repeats itself generation after generation.
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Stereoboard
Staples has really found his sweet spot here. It’s never quite as jaw-dropping as his benchmark ‘Big Fish Theory’, but the fusion of accessibility and experimentalism makes ‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’ a shining example of why he is at the forefront of one of the most innovative artforms in modern popular culture.
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Gigwise
His strongest + most ambitious work since Big Fish Theory.
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Mic
VINCE STAPLES FINDS QUIET, MEDITATIVE BRILLIANCE ON RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART.
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Spectrum Culture
Tragic accounts of violence surround a guarded Vince Staples, who raps not proudly but unapologetically about his dedication to the hustle, his anxiety, and ultimately his inability to love, all stemming from his tumultuous upbringing in Long Beach.
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The Miami Student
“RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART” isn’t quite the magnum opus it could have been, but it allows Staples to explore the root causes of much of what he raps about over some consistently great production. In a way, it feels like the end of another era before Staples transitions into a new sound or aesthetic, hopefully one that further matches his unique skill set.
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Everything is Noise
Vince closes out Ramona Park Broke My Heart just like it started: at the beach. It’s optimistic in its placing, and stands as a reminder of sorts that in between the complexities of Vince’s history, the confusion of his present success, and the uncertainty of the future, there’s a beautiful minutia playing out. Life is a lot. Vince knows that, and his shifting creativity of reality stands as a testament to that. Let’s just hope he decides to keep rapping about it for years to come.
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The Daily Californian
‘Ramona Park Broke My Heart’ stuns as Vince Staples’ autobiographical masterpiece.
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UHCL The Signal
Vince Staples delivers one of the best hip-hop albums of the year with “Ramona Park Broke My Heart” and portrays an excellent perspective of gang life. The album tackles its complex topics while never seeming preachy or dogmatic. The rhythmic bounce of the G-funk beats combined with Staple’s mellow tone delivers an album that will stick with listeners for a long time.
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