Music has always been a medium for the Los Angeles rapper to paint depictions of his life for fans to digest. His most recent studio album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart, could easily double as a love letter to the neighborhood that raised him as he used his words to take listeners through the highs and lows of living in the Long Beach community through tracks like “Aye! (Free The Homies),” Rose Street,” and a host of others.

No stranger to allowing his creative pursuits to spill over into the visual lane of storytelling, for Netflix’s The Vince Staples Show, he explores his life through the lens of others by bringing viewers into his world, playing on the notion of whether he’s rich, a rapper, a criminal, famous…or just trying to figure it out one crazy adventure at a time.

“I feel like a lot of times, even outside of myself, we view people that have a certain level of celebrity, or you know, monetary gain, or fame…in a certain way, and it’s not necessarily always true,” Staples told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in an interview ahead of the show’s premiere.

“We all have to live day-to-day life and try to kind of lessen the gap between how we view people that have notoriety and ourselves,” he continued. “We’re all a lot more similar than we think. So, I kind of wanted to eliminate the perception of what a day would be like for someone who has whatever people deem that I have.”

Executive produced by Kenya Barris, the series is a project that has been years in the making for the 30-year-old artist.

With his life being no walk in the park, Staples uses his wits and epic comedic timing to showcase that no matter the amount of fame or status you achieve, it’s often inevitable to not experience some sort of survivor’s remorse.

“Life is about how you experienced it, who you experienced it with [and] where you experienced it,” Staples thoughtfully recanted. “We’re only our surroundings and our environments [and] the situations that we go through. We are all of those experiences, so no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, if you have to leave, you will feel some sort of discomfort. Money doesn’t change that or fame doesn’t change that. We know what we have connectivity to, so sometimes, we forge new connections or sometimes we run back to those connections. Sometimes we find ourselves in limbo, and I think there’s some of all of that within this television show and just trying to find your place in the world.”

When it comes to sharing his art with the world through music versus television, Staples admits that while there are some similarities, the biggest difference is the collaboration with other people.

“There are definitely similarities as far as the way that I view the world and try to utilize my voice as much as possible,” the “Magic” emcee explained. “The biggest difference is the involvement of other people. Usually with music, it’s just me and probably an engineer and a couple of producers, if that. With film and television, you have a whole network and you have a whole crew of people that work day in and day out for you. So, just learning how to make sure those people are having a great experience and feel like coming to work every day…that they feel like they’re a part of the process… was extremely important to me and that was one of my main focus[es]– making sure that we’re running a good set, a good production office and just making sure that it felt like a good environment.”

Staples says that although they weren’t exempt from facing challenges or hurdles, it was a lot easier to navigate thanks to strong bonds formed throughout the process of creating a series that is extremely near and dear to his heart.

Now, he is ready for the world to get a glimpse into the nuances that make up Vince Staples, the man; Vince Staples, the rapper; Vince Staples, the son– and beyond.

“I feel like if they’re watching it, man, I’m just grateful that people took the time to watch this show,” he said. “It’s a quick binge, especially on Netflix. You know we like to watch things at once. So I mean, whatever they take from it, I’m grateful because I put so much into the show, and there’s so much nuance. I just want people to realize the hard work that went into the show [and] my involvement with the show. Like I did every aspect of this show. So, if people can just walk away from it knowing that I really put a lot into it and I’m really trying to push my creativity to a new balance, that’s enough for me. But whatever they take from it, I’m grateful.”

The Vince Staples Show is now streaming on Netflix.