Vince Staples Bashes Developers For Selling Land Amidst L.A. Wildfires

Vince Staples is going to speak his mind. He’s one of the most blunt rappers of his generation, both on and off the microphone. It’s what makes him such a consistently engaging (and oftentimes darkly funny) presence in the genre. Vince Staples’ Twitter was no laughing matter on Monday, however. The rapper got on the app and detailed an interaction he had with California developers. Staples claims that he was given the opportunity to purchase his land amidst the devastation of the wildfires. He was not amused.

“White devil offered a [million] cash for the land,” Vince Staples tweeted out. “He must’ve thought I was one of them other n**gas.” He did not appreciate the fact that developers were trying to take advantage of a situation that has killed several Angelinos and displaced hundreds of others. “Whole neighborhood burnt down but we still thuggin,” he added in a separate tweet. Vince Staples also took steps to help the people who had been displaced. “Long Beach is making a pledge,” he said. “To the California Community Foundation. Anything helps!.”

Staples is a particularly fascinating figure in terms of rappers and their connections to the wildfires. The rapper is not only a proud Los Angeles native, but he predicted that insurance companies would do what they wound up doing to homeowners. Which is to say, cancel insurance shortly before the wildfires broke out. He discussed this concern during a 2024 stint on The Joe Budden Podcast. “California not insuring houses anymore,” the rapper asserted. “Cause of climate change.” Vince Staples went on to detail the ways in which climate change has impacted California.

“They’re shifting those areas,” he explained. “There’s areas that have never had a wildfire that are now high fire zones. It’s getting wicked. It was like $15,000. Everybody don’t have [15 grand].” Joe Budden was surprised to hear this, and hinted at there being more to the story that they were aware of. “Yeah, there’s another paragraph,” the former rapper theorized. “We will find out next year.” Sadly, Budden’s words and Vince Staples’ concerns proved to be prophetic.