Toward the end of FM!, his quick and jarring new album, there's a moment where Vince Staples brutally sums up the cold absurdity of rap almost-fame: "Tryna get rich, get everybody fed / But everybody dead." Staples has earned a reputation as a sharp and cerebral trickster -- funnier than a lot of comedians, more entertaining when talking about basketball than most professional basketball commentators. He's great at half-trolling publicity stunts, like the moment, earlier this year, when he promised to quit rap and keep his opinions to himself if anti-fans raised enough money on his Gofundme campaign. And yet Staples is not a joke. And on his records, he generally puts that persona behind him and gives, a cold, dark look at what it's like where he's from. To understand him, you have to understand that dichotomy.