SACRAMENTO, CA—Underground Hip Hop stalwart Mic Jordan (Jordan Beasley) is back in the spotlight, dropping his deeply personal and long-awaited full-length album, Summer of ’95, September 7, 2025 — releasing is a sonic time capsule, offering fans the head-nodding beats and razor-sharp lyricism the veteran MC is best known for.
Jordan, who recently went for a change in his musical name to VNDL SVG, is a key figure in the Hip Hop trio Tribe of Levi and the broader The People’s Revolution (TPR) collective—describes the project as a semi-biographical journey through his teenage years in California’s capital city.
“This album is a semi-biographical account of my teenage years in Sacramento, California,” Mic Jordan stated on his Bandcamp page. “The songs in my voice really happened like that, the songs in an altered voice are what could have happened or other peoples’ stories.”
The Sound of the Underground
Summer of ’95, available on Bandcamp, is a dense, detailed work, anchored by the classic, rugged sound of boom-bap. The production, handled entirely by Skurge (Jahmeel Gray) of Skylit Music (listed in album credits as Quotamayne), utilizes hard-hitting drums, basslines, and seemingly clever samples pulled from vintage arcade or video games, keeping pace with Jordan’s signature lyrical speed.
One standout track is “Paperwerk,” which features a fierce verse from Sacramento’s own Gatlin (Greg King). Gatlin also took on mixing and mastering duties for the entire project, lending a cohesive, polished edge to the raw, underground sound.
Credits Note: All lyrics and vocals by Mic Jordan (J. Beasley) except for “Paperwerk” with The Gatlin (G. King). All production by Quotamayne (J. Gray).
Deep Roots in the 916
Jordan’s history runs deep in the Sacramento scene. Along with fellow emcees Poor and N.O.N. in Tribe of Levi, he is a central member of the TPR collective, whose roster includes artists like Bru L.E.I., Century Got Bars and original alumni Mahtie Bush and Old Ghost.
UBO MAG has a long-standing history with Mic Jordan and TPR, dating back to 2008–2011 when the publication hosted several shows featuring the crew and their Hip Hop alumni. Jordan’s style is described as a mixture of “lyrical olympics and a haze of his educational background,” often balancing politically and spiritually motivated tracks with songs strictly about having fun.
The rapper’s intellect isn’t limited to the mic, however. He is an avid video game player, comic book and action figure collector, maintaining a knowledge base in these subjects and series as extensive as his educational background in law and journalism.
This blend of culture, politics and lyricism is often taken to the streets. Jordan and his TPR crew are consistently involved in local cultural and political events, including the May Day block party, the Climate Justice Festival (2023), and Some Kind of Earth Day (2024), a free community festival organized by Auburn’s Hip Hop Congress.
While keeping up with “the political jonez’s” on social media, it is easy to see that Jordan is most proud of being a father to his two kids, who share his tenacity and humor.
Sacramento: Best Scene in the Country?
Mic Jordan is an active advocate for his local scene. His commitment to the city was recently highlighted when he contributed “Kenetic Science,” under his new moniker, VNDL SVG to Andrew Lozano’s underground Hip Hop tribute album, Hometown Heroes (Freqy Music Group), a project featuring Sacramento’s early 2000s stalwarts like Old Ghost (TPR), Melkez, 2Ugli, Nytelife and Live Manikins.
His passion for Sacramento’s overlooked talent is evident. According to a past article in Submerge Magazine, Jordan and N.O.N. of Tribe of Levi came to an interview stating immediately, “Sacramento, per capita, has the best Hip Hop scene in the country.”
They argued that the local scene suffers because the city’s biggest acts, such as Blackalicious or Death Grips, are rarely associated with the capital by the general public.
“People don’t associate Sacramento’s biggest acts with Sacramento,” Mic Jordan told Submerge Magazine (July 2012). “People don’t know that Blackalicious went to Kennedy [high school]. Other than [Brotha] Lynch [Hung], he’s the only major act from here that was associated with it. But things are changing with Chuuwee, Death Grips and Bannon. Maybe the tide is turning finally. We’ve just got to figure out how to push it further.”
With the release of the personal and poignant Summer of ’95, Mic Jordan—or perhaps we should start getting used to VNDL SVG—is ensuring that Sacramento’s underground voice is heard loud and clear.
