The Rise and Stall of Pac Div

Kristofferson San Pablo

​In the late aughts, the safe money was on L.A.-via-Palmdale trio Pac Div. They seemed poised to lead the burgeoning "New West" movement -- the pre-Odd Future crop of young rappers seeking to reclaim hip-hop for the Left Coast. They were the group everyone from industry suits to bloggers to party people could agree on.

In 2008, Universal Motown president Sylvia Rhone signed the act -- consisting of brothers Like and Mibbs and high school friend BeYoung -- to a roster that included Lil Wayne and Stevie Wonder. The next summer Pac Div released a slickly lyrical mixtape with beats for booming systems called Church League Champions, three tracks from which were in rotation on MTV Jams.

Their music glorified L.A.'s sun-toasted days and breezy, kush-clouded nights, with occasional bits of gritty realism. Their debut album, Grown Kid Syndrome, was scheduled to drop in the fall of 2009, and all systems seemed go.

"Pac Div's presence was incredible," Devi Dev, former on-air personality and promotions manager for KDAY, tells West Coast Sound via email.

But two years later, the work still hasn't surfaced. While they've since released other mixtapes and steadily toured, Pac Div's momentum has stalled. Recently, a picture making the rounds on Tumblr showed the boys burning a contract -- presumably theirs with Universal Motown.