Young L, the Berkeley rapper and producer best known for his central role in the Pack, has reportedly died. No official confirmation of his death has been issued, but Bay Area rap veteran Too $hort, who served as the Pack’s early mentor, shared the news on Instagram last night. Given his close connection to the group, Too $hort would be a credible source. The cause of death is currently unknown. Young L was 39.
The Pack formed in Berkeley in 2005, when Young L, Lil B, Stunnaman, and Lil Uno were all teenagers. Lil B later became an internet cult figure, but Young L was the group’s true creative architect. His crisp, minimal, and playful production fit within the hyphy movement that dominated Bay Area rap at the time, yet it also sounded distinctly of a new generation. He held back on everything, constructing entire tracks from only a few elements without sacrificing their central energy or funky, twitchy character. His sound would go on to influence the jerkin’ style that emerged from Los Angeles a few years later, and it is easy to imagine a producer like DJ Mustard drawing ideas from his work.
The Pack developed their sound while working together at Young L’s house, and they released their debut mixtape Wolfpack Muzik Vol. 1 in 2005. “Vans,” their icy 2006 tribute to inexpensive skater shoes, earned regional airplay on California rap radio, and Too $hort signed the group to his Jive imprint Up All Nite. “Vans” became a national hit, and the Pack’s debut EP Skateboards 2 Scrapers arrived by the end of that year. Their full-length debut Based Boys followed in 2007, with Young L handling most of its production.
Based Boys was not a commercial success, and the Pack were largely inactive by the time they released their 2010 follow-up Wolfpack Party, as Lil B had already begun his deeply strange and influential solo career. Young L went solo as well. His 2011 single “Loud Pockets” pushed his idiosyncratic production style forward and worked as a kind of anthem in its own right. He released numerous mixtapes, sometimes alone and sometimes in collaboration with his Pack associates Lil B and Stunnaman. In 2012, Young L and Soulja Boy released a collaborative tape titled Mario & Domo Vs The World.
During the years when I wrote a weekly mixtape column, I reviewed Young L tapes such as 2013’s Convulsion and 2014’s MVP. Young L also produced for artists including Too $hort, Mac Miller, Prodigy, Kool AD, and Bladee. He was a true original with an exceptionally cool and advanced sound, and he had more to offer. This is a serious and painful loss. Check out some of Young L’s work below.
