Jimmy Wopo – “Lane Life” Video
Last month, the ascendant Pittsburgh rapper Jimmy Wopo was shot and killed in his hometown — in an eerie coincidence, on the same day that XXXTentacion was killed a thousand miles away. He was just 21. Wopo wasn’t a big name outside of his hometown yet, but he was getting there. He was a hard, almost traditionalist street rapper — “Elm Street,” his signature song, rested on the kind of heavy piano loop that could’ve been beamed directly from the early ’90s. But he had a playful edge to him, too. He seemed to be exhilarated by the mere act of rapping.
We haven’t finished hearing him rap yet. Like so many rappers, Wopo left behind plenty of unreleased music, including a mixtape that may have been finished by the time of his death. That mixtape, entitled Muney Lane Muzik 2, is coming out later this summer, according to The FADER. And today, we get to see the video for “Lane Life,” its first single.
“Lane Life” is a short, sharp song. Wopo raps with great, chest-out confidence over a tense, ominous string loop, talking tough and bulldozing through the beat in a way that reminds me of Juelz Santana. In the video, he spends time in a studio, hangs out with a little kid, and climbs into a dumpster. Check it out below.
Muney Lane Muzik 2 is coming later this summer.