FM! explained (a thread):

FM! Is supposed to represent the entirety of a hip hop radio broadcast in Long Beach called the neighborhood. I’ve listened to a lot of concept records, but this is possibly the most unique. Between the varying strong structures, and creative ideas, it’s not only a good album,

-but an interesting and refreshing concept. When I listen to it, I feel like I’m driving my car through Long Beach listening to a hip hop radio station. With all that said, let’s get into it.

The album begins with the song “it feels like summer.” The radio hosts discuss how it always feels like summer in Long Beach, so they play a song that follows suit. The song itself is incredibly slick with a hook by ty dolla sign and some classic Vince Staples flows.

The next song that plays in this radio broadcast is “outside.” Outside is a track that calls back to Vince’s youth. The hook, though incredibly catchy, is a reference to gang violence in Long Beach when he was a child.

The song then ends abruptly and transitions smoothly into the next track “Don’t get Chipped,” which recalls Vince’s past being in gangs, mentioning close ones who have passed away and his independence in the music industry.

Once again, the previous track leads directly into the next (which is a nice touch considering it’s supposed to be a continuous broadcast). “Relay” is a song detailing inner city drug dealing, with many clever references to various things surrounding that.

The outro of the song once again features the radio hosts doing an ad where if you call the phone number they say you have a chance to win, which used to be a really common type of ad on radio shows.

The next track is not even a full Vince staples song, it’s an Earl Sweatshirt snippet which is led into by the radio hosts. The following track, run the bands is a catchy club banger talking about getting money.

The 7th track, FUN! is an acronym for fuck up nothing, which is a phrase Vince says repeatedly in the track. The song is about crime, and intentions with said crime. As Vince said they just want to have fun, without causing problems. There are also a multitude of clever bars.

Despite the intro of the track being another goofy radio ad, the album most definitely takes a darker turn, given Vince’s lyrics in the track. The hook of the track (image 2) illustrates needing to always stay alert, for if you don’t there can be grave and dangerous consequences.

Keeping the radio station theme, it’s only fitting that the next track is another snippet of a new track, this time from Tyga. After the tyga snippet concludes, we get a skit featuring a person calling into the number they have been repeating during the duration of the album.

They then start quizzing the caller about celebs who’s first name starts with V...and he can’t get Vince Staples. This is a way of showing Vince’s bitterness towards his lack of recognition giving how much amazing music he has in his catalogue.

On the outro of the record we get the song Tweakin, which is the most gruesome track on the whole record. It describes people who have done far too many drugs and are “tweakin.” It also talks about how frequently people he is close to pass away.

As the album concludes, we are brought back to the radio show, which tells us to stick around the neighborhood.

Thank you for reading! RT’s appreciated and go listen to this album if you haven’t already