The Pack (group)

History

The Pack started with two friends, Lloyd Omadhebo and Keith Jenkins, known as Young L and Stunnaman, who met in sixth grade. They connected over skateboarding and started making music together. Later they met Brandon McCartney and DaMonte Johnson, who went by Lil B and Lil Uno, and the four formed the group in 2005. They kept experimenting with music, recording sessions happening at Young L’s home.

When the Bay Area hyphy movement was taking off, the Pack put out their first mixtape, Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 1, in 2005, which did okay locally. The next year, in March 2006, they released Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 2. That tape included the track “Vans,” which got heavy radio play up and down the West Coast. Rolling Stone ranked it fifth on their list of the best songs of 2006, it made the Billboard Hot 100, and it stayed on the Billboard Rhythmic chart for twelve weeks.

After hearing “Vans” on the radio, Bay Area rapper Too Short called Lil Uno and said he wanted to sign the group to his label, Up All Nite, which was part of Jive Records. The Pack signed on and dropped their debut EP, Skateboards 2 Scrapers, on December 19, 2006. Young L produced it, and it had six songs, including a remix of “Vans” featuring Mistah F.A.B. and Too Short. Their first full album, Based Boys, came out on October 30, 2007.

Critics gave it mixed reviews, and it didn’t sell well, so Up All Nite dropped them. Lil B then started a solo career that got more attention than the group ever did. The Pack later signed with SMC Recordings and released their second and last album, Wolfpack Party, on August 24, 2010.