October 16, 2020 — Sacramento rising star ShooterGang Kony releases Still Kony 2, his second full-length album this year, via EMPIRE today. Praised as “one of California’s most exciting young rap artists,” (Pitchfork) ShooterGang Kony proves himself again across 14 tracks that showcase “a natural MC, loose and free but with a seriousness that comes with honed skills.” (Billboard) The album includes previously released singles “Overdose,” featuring Lil Poppa, “Red Ice,” “The Shooters,” and “On Da Flo.” The music video for “On Da Flo” earned over 400k views on YouTube in the past two weeks. One of many distinguishing parts of ShooterGang Kony’s artistry are his visuals and today’s album release is accompanied by another impressive video for the album’s intro titled “Still Kony 2.” Directed by ShooterGang Kony and frequent collaborator Mikey Rare, the video highlights the harsh realities of a relentless judicial system and the repercussions of life in the trenches. Watch the video for “Still Kony 2” here and stream the album, Still Kony 2, here.
Although ShooterGang Kony released his 14-track album, Red Paint Reverend, in February of this year, he has experienced tremendous growth musically and personally in the last several months. “I feel like I’ve aged ten years,” he says when reflecting back. Losing those closest to him has become a trend in the young rapper’s life. Every album cycle comes with more death and more pain, which is woven into every music release. Red Paint Reverend brought more accolades, including renowned music critic Jeff Weiss hailing the project as “one of the best albums of the year” and outlets like Pitchfork, Billboard, Complex, The New Yorker and The Fader praising Kony as one of California’s most compelling new voices. But despite the recent success, Kony has been unable to escape the clutches of a criminal justice system that has preyed on him since a pre-teen. Now 21 years old, he found himself locked up again on the day he was scheduled to shoot the Still Kony 2 album cover. A conversation with another inmate led him to change direction for the artwork and it now highlights one of the biggest developments in his life —the birth of his first child. Kony was already thinking about Biggie’s album, Ready To Die, as an inspiration for this project and chose to reference it visually rather than with words by putting his baby boy on the front cover. Calculated and thoughtful execution are at the forefront of everything that Kony does, and this is no more apparent than in his cinematic visuals like “A Sinner’s Story,” “Bussdown” and “Charlie,” which all have view counts in the millions. Now with seven full length albums under his belt and a growing fanbase, “Shootergang Kony, a young man with a rapidly-metastasizing legacy, will be here for a long time.” (Passion of the Weiss)
STILL KONY 2 TRACKLIST 1. Still Kony 2 (Prod. Reece Beats) 2. The Greatest (Prod. Link Up) 3. On Da Flo (Prod. Helluva) 4. Red Ice (Prod. L Finguz) 5. Negativity ft. Teejay3k & 1TakeJay (Prod. Dave-O & Jay Nari) 6. ASCAP (Prod. L Finguz) 7. You See the Geekin (Prod. L Finguz) 8. Overdose ft. Lil Poppa (Prod. Reece Beats) 9. Do or Die (Prod. Daniel Cruz) 10. Pain & Promise (Prod. L Finguz) 11. Flaggin ft. Teejay3k (Prod. Jay P Bangz) 12. Fasholy Good (Prod. N/A) 13. The Shooters (Prod. L Finguz) 14. Nothing Left (Prod. Daniel Cruz)
