Vince Staples challenged a fan on stage at Lollapalooza yesterday (August 4) to prove he’s not racist – watch the footage below.
- READ MORE: Vince Staples: “It’s important for me to tell the truth about my experiences”
Towards the end of his set, the rapper saw a white teenager, who gave his name as Stefan, in the front row. He asked him, among other things, if he’d ever seen the US sitcom Family Matters – which had a predominantly African-American cast – and then told him to get on stage to rap along to ‘Big Fish’.
“You’re here to perform,” Staples told Stefan, “If you do this right, I’m not gonna think you’re racist. If you fuck this up, I’m gonna think you say n****r when you go home.”
Staples got Stefan to face the camera and reveal whether he says the word at home, and the teen confirmed that he does not. Then, the pair began to perform ‘Big Fish’, though Stefan struggled to remember many of the lyrics to the 2017 track.
After Staples’ set, a fan said to him on X (formerly Twitter), “Why did you punish us with that kid’s terrible attempt at big fish, you knew he didn’t know it.”
Staples replied, “You right I did… my bad.”
One fan joked to him, “You saw that tall white boy sprinting through the crowd and took the opportunity to give some reparations, you good,” while another said, “Thank you for an actual real audience participation segment that was funny as hell.”
Staples might have been at Lollapalooza over the weekend, but back in June he was in the UK and took part in a Q&A alongside Stormzy before playing a show at London’s Roundhouse on a tour in support of his latest album ‘Dark Times’, released in May.
In 2021, he told NME: “I have the purest intentions when it comes to making music and what I think that way people can take away from it. I just say what I feel and then I go from there.”
Staples will be touring the US and Canada with his ‘Black in America’ tour across October and early November. You can find tickets here.
Vince Staples’ setlist at Lollapalooza was:
‘The Beach’
‘Aye! (Free The Homies)
‘Little Homies’
‘Lemonade’
‘Rose Street’
‘Children’s Song’
‘Shame On The Devil’
‘Étouffée’
‘The Shining’
‘Magic’
‘When Sparks Fly’
‘Are You With That?’
‘Money On My Mind’ (Lil’ Wayne cover)
‘Government Cheese’
‘Big Fish’
‘Fun!’
‘Norf Norf’
‘Yeah Right’
‘Black&Blue’
