Summer’s a long time in rap. In late June, Young Gully, a 22-year-old East Oakland rapper, had picked up an increasing buzz as partly the result of his free mixtape with DJ Racks. Called Definition of Gas, it ultimately wound up on The Fader web site, a rare bit of mainstream East Coast magazine coverage for a Bay Area artist. Like many of the Town’s hot young rappers, Gully emerged from the fertile Hieroglyphics compound in East Oakland, the de facto HQ for Beeda Weeda‘s PTB crew and J.Stalin‘s Livewire. Gully was brought into this scene by Jamon Dru, a member of the groups’ affiliated production squad, The Whole Shabang. With his 2009 installment in Whole Shabang-member DJ Fresh‘s Tonite Showseries, and his upcoming appearance in SMC Recordings‘ Town Thizzness series (The Prescription), Gully is following the template for regional success developed by Stalin, Beeda,Shady Nate, and others. The Fader endorsement, however, was an unexpected bonus.
