Vince Staples Signs Deal With Motown Records

Vince Staples has signed to Motown Records via Blacksmith Recordings, a label that was founded by Corey Smyth with Capitol Music Group and Motown Records.

The signing was announced on Wednesday at Capitol Congress 2019.

“Today, more than ever, artists are evolving their professional identities in multi-faceted ways,” Smyth said in a statement back when Blacksmith Recordings label was announced. “My mission through Blacksmith Recordings is to nurture young and new talent from the ground up and enable them to expand their vision of success. We are looking at the big picture, thinking about how a musician evolves across genres, what success looks like in the first year and a decade later and what happens after the first album, the second and the third. Our goal is to reinforce career longevity and boundless potential in the artists we represent, while growing global brands around them.”

Vince Staples’ last project was 2018’s FM! The album, his third, featured appearances from E-40, Jay Rock, Kamaiyah, Earl Sweatshirt, Kehlani, Tyga, and others. Prior to that, he dropped off Big Fish Theory in June of 2017.

Speaking of Motown, Staples, who’s no longer with Def Jam, curated a playlist for Apple Music during Black Music Month that featured classic Motown tracks. “Black music means everything to me because I’m black,” Staples said. “Motown is the face and soul of Black music — light skin to dark skin, bougie to broke. This playlist covers every shade of Black in just a few tracks. Shoutout El DeBarge and shoutout the City Girls.”