The Sacramento rapper is more relaxed and nonchalant on his latest project, a mood that suits his knack for finding humanity in the darkest of situations.
ShooterGang Kony doesn’t make street rap, per se. Topics and moods on his albums include the memories of calling friends while being incarcerated and a seen-it-all attitude reminiscent of the Jacka. It isn’t enough for Kony to rap about what went on in the streets, he talks about the effects that it had on his family. Kony and a handful of other Bay Area rappers use biting humor that make you wince with every punchline and straightforward crime tales with a world-weary message.
On 2020’s Red Paint Reverend, Kony was trying earnestly to make this kind of affecting music. “A Sinner’s Story” off of that record was a yarn that Caine of Menace II Society would have told, a story about street killings and snitching, a cautionary tale as much as a song the block would play. On his latest album, Starshooter, Kony is less concerned with acclaim. It’s better this way; Kony is more relaxed and nonchalant this time. He still has the gravelly voice that he shares with fellow Bay Area rapper Mozzy, but Kony floats with the mindset of a veteran that has already proved his worth. On “Up2Date”—a duet with San Francisco’s Lil Bean—Kony makes flagrant disses like, “I’ll send your little brother home as a gesture.” Bean’s hook is great, a classic Bay sound that sounds like the vocals are being blocked by some light wind.
Still, despite his more subdued attitude, Kony remains one of the more deadly writers on the West Coast. It’s incalculable how much better would the Sacramento Kings be if they played his songs before tip-off. “We got all the glocks, it take one to leave you headless” is one of those lines on this album that shows Kony’s ability to make a threat sound like a polite proposition. The production, which utilizes the typical brooding and creepy Bay Area beats, is a great juxtaposition to Kony’s confident and regal flow.
Kony is at his best when he makes you look at humanity in the darkest situations. “Never knew him but they calling you your dad’s son,” on “Glizzy Over Rugers,” is a line that not only talks about life without a father figure but the feeling of being a descendant of a lineage. Everyone expects you to represent as he did. If Kony wasn’t a soldier who was first sentenced to probation before he was in High School, the pressure of making it out the streets would have overcome him. He’s been through the wringer and it shows in his music, even when he’s having fun. To him, joy is being able to tell you street tales for entertainment. Now the pain that has subsided, he is flexing.
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