''Ramona Park Broke My Heart'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

) is the fifth studio album by American rapper

Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper and singer. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records. Staples rose to pr ...

, released April 8, 2022, through

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

and

Blacksmith Records Blacksmith is a music management company and a record label founded by Harlem born Corey Smyth and Talib Kweli of Black Star. Signees include Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady, Vince Staples and Idle Warship. Kweli has stated he hopes to sign Camp ...

. The album was executive produced by Corey "Blacksmith" Smyth,

Ethiopia Habtemariam Ethiopia Habtemariam (, , ) is the former Chair/CEO of Motown Records. She is Ethiopian-American. She was born on 24 September 1979 in Berkeley, California. In 1994, at the age of 14, Habtemariam began interning at LaFace Records, a label created ...

Michael Uzowuru Michael Uzowuru (born November 10, 1991) is an American record producer. He has produced and written for SZA, Frank Ocean, Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Vince Staples, Earl Sweatshirt, and Rosalía, among others. Life and career Michael Uzowuru was ...

, and Vince Staples himself.

Background and promotion

''Ramona Park Broke My Heart'' is named after Ramona Park, the neighborhood of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

where Staples grew up. The album's first single, "Magic", was released on February 14, 2022, with an accompanying music video following on March 7. The album's second single, "Rose Street", was released on March 28.

Critical reception

''Ramona Park Broke My Heart'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 82, based on 10 reviews. Aggregator

AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...

gave it 7.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Robin Murray from '' Clash'' enjoyed the album, saying, "A brave record that asks awkward questions both of its maker and his audience, ''Ramona Park Broke My Heart'' is a document of personal evolution and what its possible to bring along with you". Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Fred Thomas stated, "Staples goes even deeper into memory and self-reflection on ''Ramona Park Broke My Heart'', presenting his pain, glory, and contradictory emotions in sharper definition while turning in some of his most engaging music to date". Matthew Ismael Ruiz of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' said, "The companion piece to his 2021 self-titled record diverges from the innovation and technical proficiency in favor of introspection and contemplation. It is a richly detailed, deadpan elegy for his stolen youth". ''

Beats Per Minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

'' critic Marc Griffin said, "''Ramona Park Broke My Heart'' is an illusion; Vince Staples' latest LP finds him making far more ear-catching music than his previous effort, but the infectious beats and choruses are merely a facade". Wesley McLean of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' praised the album, stating, "It's a near-perfect encapsulation of every enticing aspect of his previous work, wrapped into one project". Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Kyann-Sian Williams stated, "The production is clean, the rhymes imaginative and the rapper digs deeper than ever before. Yes, ''

'' was a beautifully personal reflection from start to finish, but ''Ramona Park…'' deepens the listener's relationship with the rapper". Karl Blakesley of ''

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

'' said, "This is easily Vince's strongest and most ambitious work since ''

Big Fish Theory ''Big Fish Theory'' is the second studio album by American rapper Vince Staples. It was released on June 23, 2017, through Blacksmith Records and Def Jam Recordings. Featuring an Avant-garde music, avant-garde style that leans toward Electronic da ...

''. An album that sounds great, but also offers an intricately crafted and at times brutally honest portrait of his hometown, highlighting the maze of social traps from which he was lucky enough to escape". In a positive review, ''Spectrum Culture''s Aaron Paskin said, "Tragic accounts of violence surround a guarded Vince Staples, who raps not proudly but unapologetically about his dedication to the hustle, his anxiety, and ultimately his inability to love, all stemming from his tumultuous upbringing in Long Beach".

Year-end lists

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. Musicians *

– rap vocals * Sean Matsukawa – additional keyboards, additional vocals, guitar, percussion (2) * Zack Sekoff – additional keyboards, keyboard arrangements, guitar, percussion (2) *

Mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

– additional vocals (4) * Nick Lee – horn (4) *

Cory Henry Cory Alexander Henry (born February 27, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, organist, and record producer. A former member of Snarky Puppy, Henry launched his solo artist career in 2018 with ''Art of Love'', his first independent ...

– keyboards (4) * Dylan Wiggins – additional keyboards (5) * Reske – additional vocals (7) *

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...

– vocals (7) * Vision – additional vocals (8) *

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

– rap vocals (10) * Nami – additional keyboards (11) Technical * Corey "Blacksmith" Smyth –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

– executive producer *

– executive producer * Vince Staples – executive producer *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

– mastering *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...

– mixing,

sound engineering An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

Kenny Beats Kenneth Charles Blume III, known professionally as Kenny Beats, is an American record producer, audio engineer, and songwriter. Early life Kenneth Blume III was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He has been studying music since the age ...

– recording (1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 16) * Tyler Page – recording (2–6, 8–14) * Angie Randisi – recording (7) * Will Quinnell – mastering assistance * Matt Wolach – mixing assistance, additional engineering * David Pizzimenti – recording assistance (4) * Hayden Duncan – recording assistance (4, 6) * Armin Lopez – recording assistance (8)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2022 albums Vince Staples albums Albums produced by DJ Dahi Albums produced by DJ Mustard Albums produced by Kenny Beats Motown albums