* En anglais uniquement
Oakland, California rapper
Vellione (aka
Vell/
Vellqwan) tapped the sounds of '90s rap with his tales of gritty street survival. Delivering bars with a voice reminiscent of
2Pac over production that recalled late-'90s
Dr. Dre,
Vellione jumped from guest slots on other rappers' mixtapes to his own solo material. Early singles like "Top of the A.M." (featuring Ldf and
Stevie Joe) and "Hennessy Don't Help" (featuring
4rAx) featured the production talents of
the Mekanix, who would also go on to produce his debut effort,
Stranded on the Wire (Livewire), which was released in late 2016. ~ Neil Z. Yeung