In November 2018, just after he released his tremendous FM! project, rapper and Twitter comedy genius Vince Staples appeared at ComplexCon in his native Long Beach. At the panel, he announced he had already completed four more albums, the first of which was supposedly coming in January 2019. That did not happen. In fact, we have posted about Staples about 30 times since then, and although some of them contain new music from the man, none contain any substantial information about a new album. Even after he signed to the Capitol/Motown subsidiary Blacksmith Records in August of 2019 with the promise of new music soon, only a few scattered tracks have emerged, some of which seemed more like jokes than a continuation of the catalog that brought us classics like Summertime ’06 and Big Fish Theory.

It seems like the wheels are actually in motion now, though, because Staples is out here teasing new music in GQ. In an interview with Desus Nice, he says a self-titled album is coming this summer. Another one called Ramona Park Broke My Heart is supposedly on the horizon, as is “a Netflix show bearing his name.” Desus seems to have listened to the self-titled LP because he directly references parts of it in the interview.

The interview doesn’t really get into Staples’ new projects much, though. It does touch on the “All Lives Matter” energy on Xbox Live, Staples’ need to lie low during COVID because of his asthma, the smartly timed release of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” what Staples learned about rapping and performance from Mac Miller, Schoolboy Q, SAINt JHN, and the Odd Future crew, the influence of Nipsey Hussle, dealing with animals as a homeowner (“a Long Beach raccoon will chase you to the death”), and Staples’ former workout regimen. And early on there’s also this about his daily routine during the pandemic:

I wake up early. I watch either First Take or Undisputed, depending on who I’m trying to hear. I’m not watching live sports or anything like that right now. That’s all I need: First Take or Undisputed. Start making coffee. I’m trying to get off the coffee, though, so sometimes I’ll make tea. I brush my teeth like a psychopath — to be honest, way too many times a day. It’s probably not healthy. Then I’ll drink my coffee, go through these emails I try not to respond to, and brush my teeth again.

So: Vince Staples is out this summer on Blacksmith/Capitol/Motown? Vince Staples is out this summer on Blacksmith/Capitol/Motown.