Vellione

From Oakland, California, rapper Vellione—also known as Vell or Vellqwan—channeled the textures of '90s rap to narrate his accounts of raw street endurance. His verses arrived in a cadence that brought 2Pac to mind, layered across beats that mirrored the signature sound of late-'90s Dr. Dre, as he advanced from cameo appearances on fellow MCs' mixtapes to issuing his own standalone work. The Mekanix supplied the instrumentation for his first two singles, "Top of the A.M." featuring Ldf and Stevie Joe as well as "Hennessy Don't Help" featuring 4rAx, and the same production team later helmed his debut album, Stranded on the Wire, which Livewire placed into circulation in late 2016.