Levon James
Levon James is a retail mixtape by American rapper King Von from Chicago. It was released through Only the Family Entertainment/Empire 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, Booka600, G Herbo, NLE Choppa, Tee Grizzley, YNW Melly, and Yungeen Ace. The project peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200.

Release and promotion
King Von burst on to the scene with a series of viral hits that included his 2018 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 made an interview for Billboard talking 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 books in prison. He also treated the theme of his album name, he felt as if he was at the top of his game, so it's only fitting that he titled his album in homage to the greatest and also his favorite player in the NBA at the time, Lebron James, the player on the other hand will later pay tribute to the Chicago rapper in coincidence of his passing, declaring that he and his son, Bronny James, were his fans.

On another interview for HipHopDx, 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 album was finally 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, in which Durk did not appear, it was directed by CrownSoHeavy.

Critical reception

Levon James received good general reviews. David Crone from AllMusic 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

References

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