LA-via-Seattle rapper Vatican Voss, aka Max Shelton, is the brother of Militarie Gun/Regional Justice Center leader Ian Shelton, whose six-year prison sentence was the inspiration behind Ian starting Regional Justice Center and who collaborated with Ian on some RJC lyrics while he was incarcerated. He celebrated his 2022 release from prison with debut single “I’m Out,” released the double single “Too Easy” / “I Just Wanna Be Happy” earlier this year, and today he put out a new three-pack, Vatican Files, Vol. 1. The EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Photographic Memory (aka Militarie Gun bassist Max Epstein), and “Change” comes with a video directed by Militarie Gun’s Will Acuña. “Change” was produced by Rafa, “All The Time” was produced by Feducci, and “Confused” was produced by Rafa and Photographic Memory and features California rapper Azariel Fly.
The songs put a fresh spin on the sounds of the early 2010s cloud rap era, and Vatican Voss says, “I feel like I lost a lot of time and still remember that I could still be in jail, I owe it to myself to go head first.” Check out the EP and video below.