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Skillz
I had the pleasure of interviewing the artist formerly known as Mad Skillz aka The Punch line Professor, Skillz before his album, “The Million Dollar Backpack” drops Tuesday, July 22nd. We spoke about his new album, the heat around an alleged Weezy beef and his most memorable session, peep the Q&A here exclusively on the3XGP.com.
Felicia: What exactly is a Million Dollar Backpack?
Skillz: A Million Dollar Backpack is me subsequently just saying you can’t judge a book by its cover. Being what I make people tend to call underground music, what I’m trying to say is that just because I make what y’all call backpack music doesn’t mean I don’t have the same dreams as everyone else?
Felicia: What instigated this creation? You have production from Jazzy Jeff to ?uestlove and appearances by Talib and Common so how did this come about?
Skillz: Just the fact that I had been on the road for so long doing a lot of touring from The Roots to Jazzy Jeff, it was to a point where the label was like, “You gonna make another album, do you want to even do an album?” because I was touring so much but I was recording periodically but not really locking myself down in the studio and doing it. It took me a minute to get it right and I think that’s why it took so long, I had to get it right. I need the right songs, I need to sound the right way, had to get the guest appearances from my favourite artists and then I’ll put it all out. Once it all came together, I was doing my thing!
Skillz interview with DJ Q45 on BET Rap City July 18, 2008
Felicia: I was reading up on your blog and there was a lot of heat around your ‘FUCK THE DJ’ entry regarding a statement from Lil’ Wayne that you addressed. Can you set the record straight for us on the3XGP.
Skillz: I had read something Wayne had said about Deejays and I’m new to blogging, people can take what they want off your blog and post quotes from my blog and I didn’t know how it all works but I’m thinking I got like 15 people on my blog and can say what I want but people were posting it on other sites. I saw ‘Skillz response to Lil’ Wayne,’ but I was like ‘I’m not responding to him, Lil’ Wayne wasn’t even talking to me. It’s a clean vision of how technology takes things. I do stand behind my statement, I don’t understand why he would say it or what prompted him to say it. Deejays’ are the corner stone of this music and you really got to respect them. I’m not saying that if a Deejay spits in my face I gotta respect him but if he aint do anything to me, we need these dudes. I didn’t really understand that, how you could do that.
So Far So Good (featuring Talib Kweli)
Felicia: That being said, what do you think is in Hip-Hop’s future?
Skillz: We need to focus on making good music, I believe that a lot of people tend to want to separate music; we tend to want to label music. You know, Hipster Rap, Backpack Rap, commercial, R&B. I believe theres only two types of music out there, good music and bad music.
Felicia: So what are your guilty pleasures? What’s something up on Skillz iPod that we’d never expect to see?
Skillz: No Doubt! I love “It’s My Life,” another Gwen Stefani song I love. Justin’s last album is on my iPod but I love 80s pop music. At any given time you can catch me in the car listening to the Eurhythmics, Men Without hats, I love that kind of shit. But as far as R&B, I love old R&B but that’s not a shock, I love the Isley brothers and I’m a huge Stevie Wonder Fan.
LISTEN TO THIS MIXTAPE RIGHT HERRE
Felicia: You don’t really pop into the mixtape scene often but when you do it’s not you covering top 40 tracks, your last mix tape, Design of a Decade Volume 1 dropped to receive great reviews but is there going to be a second installment?
Skillz: Yeah! I was already half way done it when I finished the last one but I was on the road and didn’t have a chance to get out and do it but it’s crazy. It has the same vibe and features obscure records it’s not the norm, it’s the records everybody forgot about but not me.
Skillz Freestyle on BET Rap City July 18, 2008
Felicia: You were a ghost writer and you are an emcee, what did you want to be when he grew up ?
Skillz: When I was a kid I knew I wanted to be on TV, I would always say that. I’d watch Different Strokes and all that shit and always wanted to be on television, just never figured it would be for rapping. Ghost writing was never in the picture, it wasn’t something you could even imagine yourself being at that point. I couldn’t imagine I would have made it this far doing what I love to do, just making hip-hop music and that’s what me, Talib Kweli and Common were discussing, hip-hop doesn’t have to be good to any of us, none of if it is promised to us. We’ve come a long way and I’m appreciative of that. We are blessed, there is another option to listen to someone else, these people are taking time out to listen and see us so we got to give them our best or nothing at all.
Felicia: What was your introduction into Hip-Hop? What caused your first rhyme?
Skillz: I used to Deejay, my start into hip-hop was that. I bought turn tables, mixer and I knew how to blend, wasn’t really a good scratcher but I had records. I tried break dancing when that was popping and I was good at that a little bit but couldn’t spin on my head for that long. Then I sucked at graffiti writing, I can write a tag but you’d have no clue what it was [laughs]. Then I started emceeing and that’s when I got the best response, people were like ‘Yo that’s dope, yo your dope!” and then I thought ‘Oh shit maybe that’s the one I’ll stick with.’ and that’s what I did …I stuck with the rapping.
Felicia: Since everybody and their mama are using the elections [Senator Obama specifically] as inspiration in rhymes, on shirts but are we ever going to hear a political track from you endorsing a candidate?
Skillz: Yeah, if I do it will be after we see who wins, it’s a changing time and things could go in either direction. I want to stand back and see what happens but I would be compelled to make a song because its history, it’s bigger than that it’s not something that happens every day.
Showing support for The Roots – Rising Down on April 29, 2008
Felicia : You are known for being the Punch Line Professor as a battling emcee what advice do you have for the legion of freestylers?
Skillz: Be original make sure your on point with what’s going on but educate yourself because a lot of younger cats just hop out and do songs and think they know what’s going on but don’t. You got to educate yourself, the songs are out there for us to use as educational tools to have. Make sure you do your research, there’s kids out there spinning but don’t know who Marly Marl is and that aint cool.
Felicia: If you were stuck on an island, and let’s just say you could only have one record with you to play over and over again, what would it be?
Skillz: Paid in Full. Paid in Full! Rakim was so influential to me, he was the kind of person who changed the game and brought in a lot of flavour and brought my ear in from the jump. Without Rakim there would be no Skillz, hearing him changed my life.
Felicia: Should there a level on responsibility placed on emcees for what they are saying and doing?
Skillz: Yes definitely. I think we have an edge a lot of people don’t have. A lot of people are listening to us and people are listening to us we should keep that in mind. We have these ears ad know they are on to you, you gotta give them something. Like you can’t eat bad food all the time, that shit will kill you. You gotta mix it up at some point, you know?
Felicia: What’s next for you and your million dollar backpack?
Skillz: Right now I’m going on tour next month, going out with The Roots, pushing this album while doing more videos, more songs will leak from the album and I’m ready to ride it out for the rest of the year until Christmas when I do the “Rap-Up” but I know I won’t take this long to make another album. Like I told you, there wasn’t a urgency to get back in the studio before, I was on the road, I was making money, I was recording freestyles and mixtapes here and there. Now I feel the urgency, I hear all the people saying “It’s about time” so now I’m going to put out quality music at a speed that the people will be appreciative of.
Skillz – The Rap Up ’07
Felicia: I can only imagine how many sessions you have been involved in but what is the most memorable freestyle you have been involved in thus far?
Skillz: Damn. It had to be with Q-Tip, Black Thought and Large Professor on a big tour bus, can’t even remember whose it was but we were all on it and had a beat CD on and just went crazy with it. That was one of my most memorable because I’m a fan of them.
Felicia: Skillz, I don’t want to put you on the spot but could you give us a quick taste before the album drops on the 22nd?
Skillz: Big never had one but Kanye did but he misplaced his soon as he got rich// Puff had one way before he became Diddy used to see him all the time out in New York city// Q Tip rocked his live on Arsenio , Buck Shot was the first one to put it in the video// MC Search dropped the flow with his on his back, and that was the last time you saw YO! MTV Raps.//
Skillz is bringing Hip-Hop back with his Million Dollar Back Pack that drops Tuesday, July 22, make sure you go out and cop it or hit him up at www.myspace.com/skillz Reporting for the3XGP.com, I’m Felicia Mancini.
Preview Million Dollar Backpack
Posted in: 3XGP Exclusive Interviews, Audio, Industry Interview, Mixtape, Music, Video Clips
