Shootergang Kony

Emerging from the ShooterGang collective as one of its central figures, Oak Park rapper ShooterGang Kony blended the California bounce rooted in his background with an array of contemporary approaches. His lyrics, shaped by the legacies of Snoop Dogg and 2Pac, rendered unfiltered portraits of his surroundings and the prevailing mindsets there, infused with the violence and despair he encountered early on.

Raised from birth in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood, ShooterGang Kony navigated street life during his early teenage years and encountered repeated legal troubles beginning at age 13. As a founding participant in the ShooterGang rap collective, he launched his recording path through joint work with ShooterGang JoJo and Jerm. His first solo release arrived in 2017 with the track “My City (Free JoJo),” followed swiftly by the full-length Still Kony. Issued that September, the album rooted in California offered equal portions of gritty tracks and rhythm-driven anthems. Drawing especially from Snoop Dogg’s street-level narrative style, Kony’s approach stood out for its vivid imagery, presenting neighborhood scenes with directness alongside conventional boasts.

Building on the momentum from Still Kony, the rapper issued four additional works throughout 2018: March Madness in May, Ginobli in August, the Vice Versa EP alongside Nef the Pharaoh in November, and 6:12 that December. Featuring appearances from OMB Peezy, ALLBLACK, Nef the Pharaoh, and fellow ShooterGang artists, these efforts introduced smoother engineering and varied beats while maintaining the Oak Park perspective of his initial outing. Following the April 2019 release of the 194 EP, his subsequent album Second Hand Smoke appeared in July, delivering an unexpectedly reflective set that interspersed piano-led tributes and contemplative stories among his characteristic anthems. That measured balance carried into 2020’s Red Paint Reverend, his sixth full-length project, which incorporated trap accents and varied samples into the narratives without discarding the somber introspection central to Second Hand Smoke.