C.P.O.

CPO stands for Capital Punishment Organization, a project conceived by the rapper Lil’ Nation. Born Vince Edwards, he had joined an armed gang in South Central Los Angeles, California, at age twelve, a background that supplied him with credible gangsta-rap origins. His first full-length release, To Hell and Black, featured contributions from several artists affiliated with Ruthless Records and N.W.A., most prominently MC Ren, yet the record amounted to a pale copy of the street-oriented hip-hop vitality those figures embodied. Lil’ Nation’s own delivery, in particular, lacked both the force and the agility displayed by his more prominent counterparts. Performing later under the alias CPO Boss Hogg, he supplied guest verses to tracks by N.W.A., 2Pac, and Warren G. Lil’ Nation passed away on January 13, 2022, at the age of fifty-two.