One of the best parts of being a music writer/blogger is having the opportunity to build solid connections with a wide arrange artist and the ability watch these artist grow with every subsequent release. I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to interview LA's rising rap crew Villain Park last December, back when they had barely graduated from High School and have just arrived on the scene with two singles and a few eye catching videos. But even upon first impression you could tell that these are dudes who not only who studied and cherished the hip-hop canon of the 90s and early 2000s, and but also all had a singular vision of being mentioned amongst the greats.
The crew has finally released their long awaited debut mixtape Same Ol' Shit, sponsored by LRG. The brief 8-track EP serves as the perfect introduction to Villain Park's "straight no chaser" street style of rap, that is very reminiscent of other seminal 90s groups Souls of Mischief and Boot Camp Clik. But even with these obvious influences, the group manages to sound uniquely entertaining with their blend of West Coast bravado and East Coast technicality. The production is mostly handled by Smoke Dawg, who does a great job of recreating that boom-bap soundscape for the crew to play around with. Stream the full project below and download the mixtape here.
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