Vince Staples, the rapper and artist will headline ‘The Vince Staples Show,’ a scripted comedy series that is loosely inspired by his life. Kenya Barris will exec produce the show, which stemmed from the Black-ish creator’s former overall deal with the streaming giant.
The fictional series will take place in Long Beach, Calif., with the project reuniting Barris with Ian Edelman and Maurice Williams after the trio exec produced Kid Cudi’s animated Netflix series Entergalactic. Edelman and Williams will serve as co-showrunners on The Vince Staples Show and exec produce alongside Staples, Barris and his Khalabo Ink Society banner, Edelman, Williams, Corey Smyth and Calmatic with the latter on board to direct the first two episodes.
“I am excited to partner with Netflix and Kenya Barris on The Vince Staples Show,” said Staples. “This has been something I have been developing for some time and I am happy it’s coming to fruition.”
Added Netflix head of comedy Tracey Pakosta: “It’s our mission to work with the best artists in the world. Vince has already established himself as one of the most talented young musicians today and we’re really excited about how his sensibility — and sense of humor — will translate into a unique comedy series.”
Staples has released five albums and toured with the likes of Gorillaz, Mac Miller, A$AP Rocky and Tyler, the Creator, as well as Childish Gambino. His acting credits include Dope and playing himself in features Sprite, MFKZ and Girillaz: Reject False Icons. On TV, he appeared as himself in HBO’s Insecure and lent his voice to American Dad and Lazor Wulf.
Barris, who famously negotiated an early exit from his rich Netflix deal, is currently based at Paramount’s BET Studios. He continues to exec produce Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish for Freeform and is working on a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz for Warners and a multitude of other projects for multiple outlets.
Barris is repped by CAA, Artists First and Yorn Levine. Staples is with WME, Smith and Blacksmith.
