Skateboards 2 Scrapers
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Skateboards 2 Scrapers
| type = EP
| artist = The Pack
| cover = Thepackskateboards2scrapers.jpg
| alt =
| released = December 19, 2006
| genre = Hip hop
| length = {{Duration|m=23|s=33}}
| label = {{hlist|Up All Nite|Jive}}
| producer = Young L
| prev_title = Wolfpack Muzik, Vol. 2
| prev_year = 2006
| next_title = Based Boys
| next_year = 2007
}}
Skateboards 2 Scrapers is the debut EP by American hip hop group the Pack. It was released through Up All Nite, an imprint of Jive Records, on December 19, 2006. The EP follows the Pack's breakout hit "Vans" (2006). Skateboards 2 Scrapers was produced entirely by the Pack member Young L, who was the group's main producer. The EP received mixed reception from reviewers, who mostly criticized the lyrics.
Background and release
The Pack was formed in Berkeley, California in 2005, and consisted of four rappers: Lil B, Young L, Stunnaman, and Lil Uno.{{Cite web |last=Jeffries |first=David |title=The Pack Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-pack-mn0000893117 |access-date=2025-01-24 |publisher=AllMusic |language=en}} They released their breakout hit "Vans" in 2006, and subsequently signed to rapper Too Short's Jive Records imprint Up All Nite. The Pack released Skateboards 2 Scrapers, their debut EP, on December 19, 2006.{{Cite web |last=Catania |first=Chris |date=2007-02-07 |title=The Pack: Skateboards 2 Scrapers |url=https://www.popmatters.com/the-pack-skateboards-2-scrapers-2495805009.html |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=PopMatters |language=en-US}} A music video was later released for the song "I'm Shinin{{'"}}.{{Cite web |date=2007-01-09 |title='Shinin' New Video from the Pack |url=https://www.spin.com/2007/01/shinin-new-video-pack/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=Spin |language=en-US}}
Composition
Skateboards 2 Scrapers consists of six songs and one remix. It is a hip hop album,{{Cite magazine |last=Eddy |first=Chuck |author-link=Chuck Eddy |date=2007-01-06 |editor-last=Cohen |editor-first=Jonathan |title=Skateboards 2 Scrapers |magazine=Billboard |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=41}} with lyrics mostly about money and sex.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Marisa |title=Skateboards 2 Scrapers Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/skateboards-2-scrapers-mw0000460339 |access-date=2025-01-24 |publisher=AllMusic}} Produced by the Pack's main producer Young L, the EP features slowed, sound-effect driven hyphy beats. Skateboards 2 Scrapers opens with "Vans", a song about the skateboarding shoe brand Vans. Its instrumental is a mix of Bay Area hyphy and Dem Franchize Boyz-inspired snap. The following song "I'm Shinin{{'"}} features exaggerated vocal deliveries, and lyrics about owning diamonds. The songs "Ride My Bike" and "Candy" contains bass-heavy production and simplistic lyrics.{{Cite web |last=Goodson |first=Dave |date=2007-03-02 |title=The Pack - Skateboards 2 Scrapers |url=https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.760/title.the-pack-skateboards-2-scrapers |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=HipHopDX |language=en}} Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews wrote that "Oh Go" is "the most hyphy of any song on the album". Its beat incorporates heavy bass hits combined with "a noise that can only be described as the air horn from a hockey game when goals get scored", according to Juon.{{Cite web |last=Juon |first=Steve 'Flash' |date=2007-01-23 |title=The Pack :: Skateboards 2 Scrapers – RapReviews |url=https://www.rapreviews.com/2007/01/the-pack-skateboards-2-scrapers/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=RapReviews |language=en-US}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}
| rev2 = HipHopDX
| rev3 = PopMatters
}}Skateboards 2 Scrapers received mixed reviews. Juon wrote that "none of the lyricism displayed by the group is excessively impressive." AllMusic's Marisa Brown said the EP lacked the "quirkiness" of "Vans", and felt that its sexual themes were too predictable. HipHopDX
Track listing
{{Track listing
| total_length = 23:33
| title1 = Vans
| length1 = 4:24
| title2 = I'm Shinin'
| length2 = 3:42
| title3 = Ride My Bike
| length3 = 3:13
| title4 = Candy
| length4 = 2:40
| title5 = Oh Go
| length5 = 2:58
| title6 = Freaky Bopper
| length6 = 3:18
| title7 = Vans Remix (featuring Mistah F.A.B., Too $hort)
| length7 = 3:18
}}
Credits and personnel
Production
- Todd Shaw – executive producer
- Young L – producer
- Leslie Brathwaite – mixing (all tracks)
- Brian Stanley – mixing (2)
- Don "DJ Snake" Brown – mixing (7)
- James Cruz – mastering
Art
- Daniel Hastings – art direction, design, photography
- Jackie Murphy – creative direction
- Andrea von Bujdoss – graphics