VL Deck
VL Deck
VL Deck is a trap rapper popularly known for his collaborations with Young Thug. VL has all of Atlanta behind him with shout-outs from top artists like Future, Lil Baby, and Young Thug who was featured on the "The Purge" track. Deck has been known to team up with the best from Metro Boomin, 21 Savage, NBA YoungBoy to name a few.[1]
Early Life
VL Deck hails from the Edgewood section of Atlanta, GA. Growing up in one of the most notorious neighborhoods in Atlanta known as “Zone 6,”[2]. He spent nine years in prison for a crime committed and he was released in 2012. After being released, the Atlanta native knew music would be the vessel that would get him out of the streets. Writing lyrics was a skill set VL discovered in prison, not only using a pad and pen to write, but also participating in rap battles with his fellow prison inmates. VL’s mindset was:
“When you a third strike offender, your work options get real limited, so you gotta make a way out the trap and that’s what I’m doing.”
As soon as he was released in 2012, VL was armed with a book of rhymes he would draw from for his first two mixtapes.
Career
After being released from prison in 2012, Deck hit the road on a national tour with Atlanta rapper Young Scooter and has become a staple in the Atlanta trap scene since then. Once he came back to Atlanta after the tour ended, VL partnered with Trouble and Alley Boy to release “Too Many,” a song which to date has garnered over 300k views on YouTube.
In 2014, he started his own label, Section 8 Entertainment, which has built the careers of other young Atlanta rappers.
Between May 2015 and April 2017 VL released four critically acclaimed projects - Section 8, Spot Talk, Section 8 2, and Spot Talk 2. He then closed out 2017 with the release of The Appetizer. Between the features and collaborations with artists including NBA YoungBoy and Hoodrich Pablo Juan, Future, and one of Atlanta’s most prominent underground rap labels, Duct Tape Entertainment throughout his career, it became clear that VL Deck had earned his place alongside Atlanta's most favorite rap artists. [4]
He released a mixtape with NBA YoungBoy titled ‘Kane and O’dog.’ and another featuring Future in early 2018. In March 2020, VL Deck delivered the video for one of his songs to the streets ‘Plug’[3].