Vince Staples is opening the doors to a new era.
The 10-track Cry Baby—Vince’s follow-up to 2024’s Dark Times, which marked his final release with Def Jam—will be out in just over a month. It’s one of a number of highly anticipated new full-lengths slated for 2026, which is shaping up to be a banner year for artists who still value the album experience as a uniquely challenging (but just as uniquely rewarding) art form despite an ongoing industrywide emphasis on singles.
Below, we break down everything you need to know about Vince’s latest.
When is Vince Staples dropping Cry Baby?
Cry Baby will be released on June 5 in partnership with Loma Vista Recordings, whose roster also includes Killer Mike and Ecca Vandal, among others.
What’s it sounding like?
To those who may be “mad” about the sound of “Blackberry Marmalade,” which, as with each track on the new album, is built around live instrumentation, Vince has a message:
While some were quick to start throwing the “punk rock” descriptor around after hearing the lead Cry Baby track, Vince offered a more nuanced take.
“The dummies hear a guitar and immediately start calling shit punk rock,” he said in another recent X post, later adding that punk and other offshoots of rock “all come from the Cracka tryna be James Brown.”
See the full Cry Baby tracklist below:
1. “Blackberry Marmalade”
2. “Go! Go! Gorilla”
3. “White Flag’
4. “The Running Man”
5. “TV Guide”
6. “The Big Bad Wolf”
7. “Only In America”
8. “Do You Know The Devil?”
9. “Cotton”
10. “7 In the Morning”
What’s it looking like?
The cover art, seen below, features an animated baby wailing away while wearing an American flag-emblazoned diaper.
For the “Blackberry Marmalade” video, directed by Vince alongside Bradley J. Calder, fans were given a chilling POV-style look at a mass shooting, ending with a famous quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
How to shop Dark Times, Ramona Park Broke My Heart, and more from Vince’s past catalog
Before Cry Baby’s arrival, you can add to your Vince collection by, for example, picking up Dark Times on vinyl. Ramona Park Broke My Heart, and more, are also available now on Complex.
