Young L, Founding Member of Bay Area Rap Group the Pack, Has Died

Young L appears on the cover of his 2010 solo mixtape "L-E-N." The Bay Area rapper and producer, best known for his work with The Pack on the 2006 hit "Vans," died at 39. 

Young L, the Bay Area rapper and producer whose offbeat production helped turn The Pack's 2006
sneaker anthem "Vans" into a national hit, has died, according to Too $hort, the hip-hop veteran who helped launch the group's career.

Born Lloyd Omadhebo, Young L was the principal beatmaker behind the Berkeley quartet, which brought skateboarding culture and a stripped-down, electronic twist on hyphy to hip-hop at a time when the Bay Area sound was reaching audiences well beyond Northern California.

Too $hort announced his death Thursday in an Instagram tribute, sharing a photograph of the producer and praising the group's influence on other artists.

"I never heard a Young L beat that didn't SLAP," he wrote.

Young L was 39. His exact date and cause of death have not been disclosed. No public statement from his family was available as of Friday morning.

Too $hort remembers Young L, the rapper and producer behind The Pack's breakout hit "Vans," in an Instagram tribute posted Nov. 12, 2026. View the original tribute.

The Pack came together in 2005 when Young L joined forces with Lil B, Stunnaman and Lil Uno, four teenagers connected by their love of skateboarding and rap.

Young L and Lil B met at Albany High School. Young L was experimenting with music-production software, and Lil B needed beats. Their earliest recordings came out of a closet in Young L's home.

"I didn't have anybody to rap over my beats, so we just hooked up," Young L recalled in a 2010 interview with The FADER.

Their breakthrough, "Vans," emerged from the group's 2006 mixtape "Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 2." Built around a sparse, insistent beat and a chant celebrating the California skate-shoe brand, the song spread through MySpace and Bay Area radio before reaching a national audience.

Writing for GlobalGrind in 2010, Young L recalled that the group recorded the song in his bedroom closet. What began as friends making music for fun had become something much bigger.

Too $hort heard the record, sought out the young group and signed The Pack to his Up All Nite imprint through Jive Records.

But Young L was already thinking beyond one hit.

"We didn't get signed because of 'Vans,'" he told XXL in July 2006. The group had recorded more than 100 songs in the preceding year, he said.

The Pack's official music video for "Vans," the group's 2006 breakthrough hit produced by Young L. (The Pack/Jive Records via YouTube)

Young L produced the group's "Skateboards 2 Scrapers" EP, released later in 2006, and helped establish the sound heard on its 2007 debut album, "Based Boys." His beats mixed the bounce of Bay Area rap with electronic textures, unusual rhythms and minimalist arrangements that left plenty of room for the group's personalities.

His creativity extended beyond The Pack. He released solo projects including the 2010 mixtape "L-E-N" and the 2013 instrumental EP "Convulsion," experimenting with sounds that moved further from the group's original formula.

He also co-founded the streetwear label Pink Dolphin, which became a recognizable name in hip-hop fashion.

Bay Area rapper Mistah F.A.B., who worked with The Pack, remembered watching Young L develop clothing ideas at his mother's home in El Cerrito. In his tribute, he recalled that the producer "Stayed sending me beats and cooking up fire."

Members of The Pack reunited for new music in 2018. Young L told The FADER they had "brought back that Wolfpack sound once again for the fans" as the group released a video for "Why U Wanna Do That."

By then, Lil B had become a prominent figure in internet-era rap, while Young L had established a body of work as a producer, solo artist and entrepreneur.

It was a long way from the bedroom where four teenagers began recording songs without knowing where the music might take them.

In his 2010 GlobalGrind essay, Young L explained what he hoped other artists would learn from The Pack's success:

"We want to influence the industry by showing up-and-coming artists that you can be successful without having to sound like everyone else."

Dallas Rapper Yella Beezy Convicted in $40,000 Murder-For-Hire Plot Targeting MO3

Yella Beezy appears in a 2025 interview with Boss Talk 101. The Dallas rapper was convicted Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, of capital murder in the killing of fellow rapper MO3. (Boss Talk 101 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

Six years to the day after Dallas rapper MO3 was chased down and shot to death on a busy interstate, a jury convicted fellow rapper Yella Beezy of paying to have him killed.

Yella Beezy, 35, whose legal name is Markies Conway, was found guilty Wednesday of capital murder in the Nov. 11, 2020, killing of Melvin Noble, better known as MO3. The unanimous verdict brought a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

The conviction followed more than two weeks of testimony in a case that put a yearslong Dallas rap feud under the scrutiny of prosecutors, defense attorneys and a jury weighing allegations of a $40,000 murder-for-hire plot.

Prosecutors said Conway arranged for Kewon White to kill Noble, a rising Dallas rapper whose music had reached a wider audience through his collaborations with Boosie Badazz.

Noble, 28, was driving on Interstate 35 in south Dallas around noon when White pulled alongside his vehicle, authorities said. Noble got out and ran along the highway as White pursued him with a gun.

Prosecutors said White fired more than 40 rounds from an AK-47-style pistol. Noble was fatally wounded, and a motorist caught in the gunfire was injured but survived.

White was convicted of capital murder in September and also sentenced to life without parole.

But convicting the gunman was only part of the prosecution's case. Investigators spent years trying to establish who arranged the killing and whether money changed hands.

During Conway's trial, prosecutors presented cellphone records, financial transactions and witness testimony that they said connected him to the plot. They pointed to a $40,000 cash withdrawal and communications among men allegedly involved in coordinating the attack.

The defense disputed those connections, challenging the reliability of witnesses and arguing that investigators had built their case around assumptions about the rivalry.

Defense attorney John Gussio told jurors the prosecution had offered extensive speculation rather than sufficient proof of capital murder.

The trial also exposed conflicts in witness testimony. Rapper Jose Bodega, whose legal name is Theodore Thomas, disputed his earlier grand jury account of the feud, prompting the judge to allow prosecutors to question him as a hostile witness.

In closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors returned to the money, the alleged coordination among the participants and statements they said demonstrated Conway's desire for revenge.

The jury rejected the defense's arguments and returned its verdict Wednesday, the sixth anniversary of Noble's death.

Another defendant, Devin Brown, faces a capital murder charge in connection with the killing and has not been tried. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

For Dallas hip-hop, the case brought two very different careers back into the same headlines.

Conway broke through nationally with his 2017 single "That's On Me" and later collaborated with Quavo and Gucci Mane on "Bacc At It Again."

Noble built a following with his raw, melodic storytelling, including "Errybody" and its popular remix with Boosie Badazz. The two also released the collaborative project "Badazz MO3" in 2020, months before Noble's death.

MO3 and Boosie Badazz in the official music video for "Everybody" (Remix), released in 2019. (HSM/YouTube)

Producers Sue Ye, Ty Dolla $ign Over Alleged Unlicensed ‘Vultures’ Recording

Ye, left, and Ty Dolla $ign are shown in a composite of separate archival photographs. The rappers face a federal copyright lawsuit alleging unauthorized use of a recording on their song "Vultures." (Composite by Célestin Denis via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

A music file sent to Ty Dolla $ign by text message is now at the center of a federal copyright lawsuit accusing him and Ye of using another pair of producers' work without permission on their hit "Vultures."


Producers Jaraed "Jae Deal" Deal and Marlon "Marlonwiththeglasses" Barrow filed the complaint Friday in Los Angeles, alleging the rappers incorporated a recording the producers created in 2018 into multiple versions of "Vultures" without securing a license or properly compensating them.

The lawsuit names Ye, formerly known as Kanye West; Ty Dolla $ign, whose legal name is Tyrone Griffin Jr.; Yeezy Record Label LLC; Yeezy LLC; and distributor Create Music Group.

According to the 24-page filing, Deal and Barrow jointly created a track called "Joint 2," including separate instrumental recordings featuring piano, brass, strings, flutes and Rhodes keyboard.

Barrow had known Ty Dolla $ign for years, the lawsuit says.

INSIDE THE "VULTURES" LAWSUIT

Producers Jae Deal and Marlonwiththeglasses allege that music they created in 2018 was used without authorization in multiple versions of Ye and Ty Dolla $ign's song.

The complaint describes an MP3 sent by text message, an unsigned licensing agreement, disputed producer credits and an attempted buyout.

Filed Nov. 6, 2026
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Case No. 2:26-cv-13035

Read the original 24-page federal complaint

These are allegations made by the plaintiffs; no liability has been determined.

During a telephone conversation, Ty allegedly heard the recording playing in the background and expressed interest in using it. He later visited Barrow's studio and requested a copy.

Barrow sent him an MP3 by text message, the producers say, with the understanding that higher-quality audio files and individual instrumental tracks would be delivered only after a written agreement was negotiated.

That agreement never materialized.

The producers allege that Ty Dolla $ign subsequently shared the MP3 with Ye and that portions of the recording appeared in multiple commercially released versions of "Vultures" beginning in November 2023.

Barrow received a production credit but no compensation, according to the lawsuit. Deal alleges he received neither credit nor payment.

The producers say they objected shortly after learning the song had been released and sought to have it removed from streaming platforms.

They also describe a January 2024 discussion with producer 88-Keys, identified in the complaint as Yeezy's head of music, during which they asserted their ownership of the underlying recording.

Nevertheless, the disputed material allegedly continued appearing in subsequent versions of "Vultures," including releases connected to the duo's chart-topping "Vultures 1" album.

The filing also describes an October 2024 attempt to resolve the dispute.

According to the producers, a Yeezy attorney offered to buy out their rights. Deal rejected the proposal, arguing that it failed to reflect the music's value or address the disputed credits.

The complaint does not reveal the amount offered.

The plaintiffs are pursuing copyright infringement, vicarious infringement and contributory infringement claims. They seek monetary damages, legal costs and an injunction that could restrict further distribution of recordings containing their work.

They also want a share of profits they argue are connected to the allegedly unauthorized use.

In an unusually expansive argument, the complaint attempts to connect the recording to revenues from "Vultures"-branded merchandise and ticketed listening events.

It alleges that merchandise sales exceeded $100 million, although that figure has not been independently substantiated, and the lawsuit has not established how much of any such revenue would be attributable to the disputed recording.

The producers are seeking actual damages and related profits, or alternatively statutory damages under copyright law. No damages have been awarded.

The case adds to the legal disputes surrounding music on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign's "Vultures" projects, which have previously drawn complaints from other artists and rights holders over allegedly unauthorized samples.

The allegations in the new lawsuit have not been proven. No response from the defendants to this specific complaint was established at publication.