Stolen Youth (mixtape)

Background

Vince Staples met Mac Miller through Earl Sweatshirt, after he had returned from Samoa. In December 2012, Mac Miller announced that he would producing an Extended Play titled, Tales of a Stolen Youth by rapper Vince Staples. Staples stated Miller originally just gave him a few beats, but that grew into them deciding to release a full project together. On March 19, 2013, Staples revealed that Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Joey Fatts would be featured on the project.

On April 12, 2013, the first single "Guns & Roses" was released via The FADER. The song features Staples discussing "sensitive issues as child abuse and gun violence, backed by the choral-sampled" production. On June 6, 2013, Staples revealed the track list to the mixtape. The project would then be shortened to just, Stolen Youth, and would be released on June 20, 2013, just two days after Miller's second studio album Watching Movies with the Sound Off as a "free album" or mixtape. The mixtape featured guest appearances from Miller, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Da$h, Hardo, and Staples' Cutthroat Boyz cohort, Joey Fatts.

Following its release, Staples toured as a supporting act on every date of Mac Miller's The Space Migration Tour. Following the release of Stolen Youth he made three appearances on Earl Sweatshirt's debut studio album Doris, including the single "Hive". The liner notes of the album revealed that Vince Staples had recently signed to Def Jam Recordings. Shortly after the release of Stolen Youth he began working on his fourth mixtape Shyne Coldchain Vol. 2.

Reception

Stolen Youth was met with acclaim from music critics. Jesse Fairfax of HipHopDX labeled it a "free album", their highest praise for mixtape, saying "A breakout moment for both Vince Staples on the emcee front and Mac Miller behind the boards, Stolen Youth is the product of creative ambition and an organic, refreshing chemistry. Determined to make good on Mac’s charitable efforts, Vince spends the project channeling hopeless pessimism that doesn’t manage to distract from his lyrical gift." XXL called it a "trippy ride through the witty mind of the LA spitter", and praised the "dreamy, textured" production. In a positive review, Elijah Watson of Billboard said, " It's an uncomfortably numb LP: a dispirited Staples reminiscing his past, while ambivalently looking toward his future. [...] Production, handled by Mac Miller as Larry Fisherman, is warm and moody, fitting Staples' bleak outlook well. Black Hippy cohorts Ab-Soul and ScHoolboy Q make appearances, but for the most part Staples is on his own. "Stolen Youth" is an enjoyably dark listen, with Staples' nightmare-inducing wordplay skillful and engaging."

Track listing