The hip-hop industry is largely powered by bluster and bravado, which is why the matter-of-factness of Hell Can Wait is so compelling. Often, rappers as intelligent as Vince Staples treat their audience with a high level of sanctimony and condescension. Staples has a ferocious intellect, but he shows absolutely no interest in preaching. Hell Can Wait is about how he loves gangsta culture and hates it; how he loves hip-hop and loathes it; and how he's proud of his roots but disgusted. He speaks the truth—not only the sensationalistic details but the unbearable contradictions.