By Cameron Lee
November 2, 2025
Photo: Malik Gist (@squidlik)
Since signing with Roc Nation in 2021, Charlotte’s Reuben Vincent has made his rounds on press runs, toured with Pusha T, performed at Dreamville Fest, and moved within some of hip-hop’s most exclusive circles as a young protégé of 9th Wonder. At just 13 years old, he caught the ear of the revered producer as a prodigy, spitting bars well beyond his years that harkened back to the golden era, rapping over soulful boom-bap tapestries.
But at 24, Vincent is still finding himself, returning “home” in his fifth full-length project — and his third under Jamla/Roc Nation. It’s a boldly honest portrait of a young man bearing the pressure of representing a city while being a pupil of some of the greatest in a genre and industry that has shifted before our eyes. Vincent reveals his scars and vulnerabilities while navigating the capricious music business, finding love that mirrored the classic hip-hop story, Brown Sugar.
“My personal life started to match the movie, where somebody who’s a close friend of mine [DJ and radio personality Nyla Symone]… we never really looked at each other in a romantic way… and then one day, kind of like the movie, we eventually had that conversation.”
While the album carries the cinematic warmth of an early-2000s coming-of-age film, its true focus lies at the intersection of love, home, and personal passions before they’re tainted by the world — most notably, Vincent’s renewed devotion to music. He moves away from the braggadocious, rapid-fire bars and booming production of his previous project, General Admission, embracing instead the soulful, funk-infused samples and euphoric ’90s-inspired soundscapes that only a producer like 9th Wonder can craft.
Vincent frames the album around a conversation with a hometown friend played by Aziza Deara, facing the shame of moving back home but slowly being reinvigorated throughout the 59-minute sonic portrait of his life.
“It’s really a love letter to hip-hop, the music I was raised on… but then also a love letter to home and me returning and falling back in love with what made me who I am today,” he said.
Vincent opens up about the often-unspoken challenges young artists face — especially in the music industry — laying bare his insecurities while navigating the unpredictable highs and lows of his career with uncanny wisdom on tracks like “God’s Children,” featuring Ab-Soul, which interpolates Ahmad Lewis’ classic track, “Back in the Day.”
“Seen where life takes us, what life makes us / Switch gears, dreams shattered by fear / Screens take up our time, months turn into years / Stuck in the cycle, overlooked by they peers / Stuck in a race, the one that isn’t real / But real is hard to face, it’s something that’s hard to deal with / It makes me think of the time we all was children / Before they took our innocence, stuck in our ignorance.”
“The conversation I had was really just a conversation I was having with a lot of people. Like, you know, me being back home, and the industry changing… things slowed down a little bit, so people are like, you know, ‘what are you doing home? How long are you home? What’s going on with you? What’s new?’ And I felt like this album was me kind of responding to all of that.”
What’s going on? Vincent is navigating the pressures of a music landscape ruled by micro-clips, viral moments, YouTube streams, and social media content — an industry saturated with flash critics and still struggling to rebuild its economic foundation.
“Everybody is wanting a quick return, and, you know, them [the label] not seeing a quick return on, I guess, the entity… they’re like, ‘Hey, how do we fix this?’ And I feel like that’s where the pressure came,” he said.
That pressure never came from his internal camp, Third World — a collective of Charlotte artists and creatives that he has always championed, including his DJ and streetwear designer Jonny Kaine, his cousins, photographer Nuke (Nuku Muingbeh) and Abdul Yates, artist Lani (Jalani Maxwell), or 9th Wonder, Vincent says.
“You have to have certain TikTok moments. You have to have a song go up on there, and a lot of people, a lot of labels are aiding their artists’ success on virality,” Vincent said. “I feel like a lot of the industry at a certain point is sacrificing the music for moments, for characters.”
The first song written for the album was “Issa Dee,” built around a Tom Misch sample from the acoustic track “Insecure” by the genre-fusing London multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter. After spending a week in L.A. and feeling uninspired in studio sessions with beats that didn’t feel organic to what he was experiencing at the time, the sample-driven track drew out the true emotions that would form the basis of the album.
“The doors that I close, still looking through the peephole / In this life, ain’t no free throws, defense on all the evils / I know it won’t be easy, it’s hard the more that we grow / ‘Cause once you take off, dog, you gon’ start losing ‘migos / Focus on the come-up is becoming my identity / Entity, who is not validated by the industry.”
Sending the song to 9th, after writing it outside of the studio — where they spent eight months almost every day watching basketball, classic films, television shows, and, of course, making music — 9th texted him: “Welcome home,” which became the album title. Vincent vowed to be unabashedly himself on this project and candid about his real-life experiences.
“I’m going to be raw and authentic, be vulnerable, and, you know, be truthful and see where that takes me, and it’s been the most rewarding process,” he said. “I’ve never felt right not being true and authentic to what I have going on, because… I start to get uncomfortable.”
“I’m Good,” featuring Marco Plus, juxtaposes the tension between maintaining an image and being open about life’s obstacles.
“I been stuck in the mud / In a rut, I been stuffin’ the bud / In a cone, face the funk with a blunt / Problems come and I run / All alone, look for someone to love / But it’s hard when it’s no one I trust.”
On the hook, Vincent repeats the mantra, “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good,” symbolizing the mask we all wear in social interactions instead of being forthright about our hardships.
Across 16 tracks, Vincent bares his fragility, featuring Top Dawg’s Ab-Soul, Atlanta’s Marco Plus, Wale, and Heather Victoria, along with talented up-and-comers like Kelly Moonstone, Jourden Cox, and SWEATA, all set against a warm, nostalgia-soaked sonic landscape crafted by 9th Wonder. But no feature aligns more closely with the “home” motif of the project than “Cup of Love (Fools),” featuring the legendary Raphael Saadiq, who serenades: “Not looking for a Grammy, never cared for awards / Just lovin’ my life, like a country boy.”
In the song and throughout the album, Vincent slowly comes to realize that our origins and genuine aspirations are what truly ground us and represent the real fruits of life — not trophies or industry approval.
“I always used to tell ’em it’s no place like home / Until I realized that home is not a place / It follows you no matter what you try to replace it / Embrace it, all from the real to the snakes / In order to survive, gotta live with mistakes / I took some big L’s like I’m diggin’ in the crates.”
On Welcome Home, Vincent is unapologetically sincere, showcasing exceptional lyricism and his signature metaphors that evoke memories of his early musical and artistic roots. He returns not only to East Charlotte but also to the foundation of his first true passion — hip-hop — while navigating the pressures of an unrepentant industry and discovering a new love along the way.
Listen to Reuben Vincent‘s latest album, Welcome Home, produced by 9th Wonder through Jamla/Roc Nation.
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