Levon James
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Levon James'' is the second mixtape by American rapper King Von, and the last mixtape to be released during his lifetime. It was released through Only the Family Entertainment/
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
on March 6, 2020. It is a 16-track project in an assortment of drill heavy beats executive produced by Chopsquad DJ and with various others productions from Mike WiLL Made-It, EY3ZLOWBEATZ, Ant Chamberlain, Budda Beats, Blue Nightmare, Dr. Flow, Bruce "Jaggerwerks" Billingy, MVAbeats, Mike Mvjor, JAYSTONBEATS. It has guest appearances from
Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
, Booka600, G Herbo, NLE Choppa,
Tee Grizzley Terry Sanchez Wallace Jr. (born March 23, 1994), known professionally as Tee Grizzley, is an American rapper. He first began posting music online following a two year prison sentence, he released the song "First Day Out (Tee Grizzley song), Fir ...
, YNW Melly, and Yungeen Ace. The project peaked at number 40 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On December 20, 2024, the album received gold certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA).


Release and promotion

King Von started his musical career in 2018, with breakout single " Crazy Story". King Von followed that up with " Crazy Story 2.0" and " Crazy Story, Pt. 3" that were included on his first mixtape '' Grandson, Vol. 1'' which brought in large streaming numbers and resulting on him debuting at Number 53 on the Billboard 200 chart. King Von was even a supporting act on G Herbo's 2020 ''PTSD'' Tour. In March 2020 Von was interviewed for
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
and talked about the fact that he had to record the project in the house, having to face the penalty of house arrest at the time, he also spoke about the fact that he acquired his storytelling skills by reading many novel books in prison. The title of the album pays homage to
LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...
. On another interview for
HipHopDx ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...
, Von declared that he was pursuing the motto "Practise makes perfect" and that he was basing his works like ''Levon James'' off it. He also said that his favorite songs over the project were "Block", "Trust Issues" with Yungeen Ace, "Baguette's", " 3 A.M.", " Took Her to the O", and also "Broke Opps" saying that he liked the whole project overall. He finally said that he was planning to make music for just 10 more years, and speculating that he could achieve his musical goals in 5 years as well and that after that he would have no longer gave interviews and would just have enjoyed his life. ''Levon James'' was announced on February 26, 2020, it was supported by three singles: the first "2 A.M" released on November 16, 2019; the second one "Rollin", was released on November 29, 2019, which featured YNW Melly; the album was finally previewed with the third and last single of the project, "Took Her to the O", released on February 21, 2020, that later will become his most famous tune. The mixtape was released on March 6, 2020.


Singles

The first single " 2 A.M." was released on November 16, 2019, with a music video associated released few hours later that was directed by DrewFilmedIt, that is ambiented in an airport where Von is with his friends. The second single was "Rollin" featuring Florida artist YNW Melly, friend and etiquette colleague of Von, this also accompanied by a music video still filmed by DrewFilmedIt. The third and last single was " Took Her to the O", a storytelling narrative based song with a very explicit and raw style where he romances a history thet deals with themes of violence, crime, and street culture; the story is based on Von riding in a car with a stripper, dealing with a man named "Duck" to whom Bennett takes his revenge for throwing a brick to his car, at the end he brings the stripper to "the O", which presumably means O'Block. The song will later become his most famous tune.


Music videos

The official video for "On Yo Ass" was released to coincide with the album release on March 6, 2020, and directed by CrownSoHeavy, the song is a featuring with Chicago artist G Herbo, with a hyperactive production from Chopsquad DJ. The video finds an ultra-confident Von playing a student standing up to and later haunting some oppressive jocks that are meant to be his rivals. Later was released an official video for "Trust Issues" song featuring Florida rapper Yungeen Ace, on March 20, 2020; in the song Von switched up his gangsta focus to show his softer side, and in the video his homie Yungeen Ace has sights on the same lady and may be more involved than King Von thinks; it is directed by DrewFilmedIt. A video for 3 A.M. was released a month after the album release, on April 6, 2020; the video, again directed by DrewFilmedIt, paints the scenes of Von doing a robbery at 3 a.m. against a couple including his sister. Another famous music video was that for drill song "Broke Opps", released on May 19, 2020, in it Von hosts a soiree in his native O-Block, donning a bejeweled face mask taking aim at all his "opps". The last video extracted from the project was related to "Down Me" featuring Chicago rapper
Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
, in which Durk did not appear, it was directed by CrownSoHeavy.


Critical reception

''Levon James'' received generally positive reviews. David Crone from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
platform, gave the work a votation of 3.5 stars out of 5, describing it as an album with "wide-ranging appeal" valuing the opening song "Same as Us" as other songs such as "Down Me", "See Me Make It," and "Baguette's"; he also eulogizes the mixed storytelling technique and deep-rooted introspection on song "Don't Want to Be"; finally defining the overall album as: "packed with storytelling finesse, bold vocals" and also saying that ''Levon James'' is a testament to Von's potential.


Track listing


Charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control 2020 albums King Von albums Empire Distribution mixtape albums Albums produced by Mike Will Made It Albums produced by Chopsquad DJ