Shame Gang Has Put In The Work
On the doorstep of his first major release in two years, the Raleigh-based, "blue-collar" artist's hustle and knack for relationship-building continues to bear fruit.
When the rapper Shame Gang first moved to Raleigh from the DMV in the mid-2010s, the timing was inopportune for standing out from the crowd. A bevy of veteran hip-hop acts who’d been steadily building names for years in the area were coming into their own, fresh upstarts were making noise even beyond the state, and a bubbling infrastructure of festivals seemed poised to lift both to a new strata of visibility and recognition.
That context may help explain why Shame (born Darren Clark) wasn’t more quickly embraced as one of the marquee names upon arrival in his new home, but the journey to fully developing his sound is likely part of the answer too. The sense of a creative still finding his way is evident in an INDY Week review from 2018 in which Charles Morse wrote, of Shame’s 2018 album, Genesis ‘98, “it’s a well-executed catharsis, but it lacks the energy needed to propel Shame toward bigger, brighter spotlights.”
While the advice he now gives around self-doubt as an artist (“you can't let that sink into your head, or you'll start to question why you do it”) suggests those and other early hurdles weren’t totally painless to endure, such things probably seem like distant concerns given where the Landover, MD native stands today. Earlier this year, he became the first artist signed to Lute’s Slum County imprint, and in April, he performed his song “I Survive” in front of thousands as part of a guest appearance during the Charlottean’s set at Dreamville Festival 2025 (“I still haven't even really soaked it in… it was one of those things I had on my vision board and it was just like, it's done now”).
This Saturday, he’s set to host a release party at Kings for his new EP, Oil Stains and 808s, alongside the aforementioned Lute, as well as Deniro Farrar, Chaz French, Niko Brim, and more — a guest list that's reflective of the hard-earned respect he's built with peers, and the latest instance of his hustle, indefatigable determination, and knack for relationship-building bearing fruit.
“When you consistent, man, things will start to happen,” he says. “A lot of times we want things fast and that's where it can get in your head and you start to question things, but you just have to be one of them people that just stick with it regardless of the roller-coasters.”