The Pack

by David Jeffries
On the street and on mixtapes, they often use their alternate name, the Wolfpack, but the Bay Area crew that exploded onto the scene with their ode to slip-on sneakers are officially known as the Pack. Members Lloyd "Young L" Omadhebo, Keith "Stunna" Jenkins, DaMonte "Uno" Johnson, and Brandon "Lil B" McCartney were skateboarding and hip-hop fiends who all attended the same high school when they first came together in 2005. As the hyphy movement started emerging as the Bay Area's answer to crunk, the teen group staked its hyphy claim in 2005 with the street-level release Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 1. The release made some local noise, but it was 2006's Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 2 that really set things in motion. Young L's minimal production was a fascinating mix of slowed-down hyphy with a bit of Atlanta's "snap" music -- replacing the usual snare drum with a finger snap -- thrown in, best illustrated by the leadoff track, "Vans." Declaring their favorite brand a better and cheaper alternative to the more expensive Nike, "Vans" dominated West Coast radio thanks to its hook, an incredibly infectious one that was delivered by a strange robot voice. When the legendary Too Short caught the single on the radio, he immediately searched out the Pack and signed them to the Jive-distributed label Up All Nite. Before they could get their major-label debut on the racks, rapper Drino Man responded to their hit with "F' Vans," an answer song that proved the Pack's big track was not just a single but a phenomenon. It wasn't until December that their seven-song EP, Skateboards 2 Scrapers, finally came out, and not until October of the following year that their full-length debut, Based Boys, hit shelves.