Vince Staples Leaves Def Jam To Sign A New Deal With Motown Records

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Vince Staples Inks A New Deal With Motown Records Via Blacksmith Recordings

Vince Staples is no longer apart of the Def Jam family.

The rapper has officially signed to Motown Records via Blacksmith Recordings–a label that was founded by Corey Smyth, Vince’s longtime manager–announcing the move 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’s most recent project was 2018’s FM!, which features appearances from E-40, Jay Rock, Earl Sweatshirt, Kehlani, and Tyga. This followed three more projects the Long Beach native released while signed to Def Jam, including Big Fish Theory in 2017, Prima Donna in 2016, and his debut, Summertime ’06 in 2015.

Before announcing his move over to Motown, Staples curated a playlist for Apple Music during Black Music Month that featured some classic Motown tracks.

“Black music means everything to me because I’m black,” he explained. “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.”

Congrats to Vince on the new deal!