Payroll Giovanni And Cardo Pay Homage To Old School Gangsta Rap With E-40 On ‘Mail Long’

There must be something in the water in Los Angeles. It seems like the West Coast is starting to experience a rap resurgence and everybody wants in, even out-of-towners like Detroit rapper Payroll Giovanni and Houston producer Cardo (best known for producing Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps“). The unlikely pair has linked up to create an ode to West Coast gangsta rap as pure as any mid-’90s release from WC or DPG in “Mail Long” featuring none other than Bay Area rap legend E-40.

Cardo provides a piano-heavy, syncopated speaker knocker that sounds like a laid-back cousin to Mike Will’s work on Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble,” while Giovanni turns in a verse worthy of a Mack 10 or Shade Sheist at the height of the gangsta rap aesthetic. Of course, E-40’s presence lends a little more credibility to the endeavor, with his signature old-school flexing and distinctive delivery. The concerns of the day are the same as they ever were: Getting money (i.e. “I gotta get my mail long”), serving on the block, stunting in “fully-loaded coupes,” and watching out for haters (and keeping a truly ridiculous armory on deck, just in case).

Giovanni and Cardo signed to Def Jam Records as a duo late last year after the success of their 2016 mixtape Big Bossin Vol. 1. Since then, the rapper/producer duo has been teasing the impending release of Big Bossin Vol. 2 on January 26th.