Skillz

Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz, born Shaquan Lewis in Richmond, Virginia) is an African-American rapper. known as a talented freestyle rapper, Skillz has not received widespread acclaim outside of the hip-hop community, but within it is considered one of its best performers.

Related Topics:
Richmond, Virginia - African-American - Rapper - Freestyle rap - Hip-hop

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He first made a name for himself by finishing in second place in a national freestyle competition in 1995, which resulted in a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Skillz' Atlantic debut, From Where???, and its single, "The Nod Factor", were released in 1995, but sank without a trace. In the late-1990s, he allied himself with fellow Virginia natives Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and The Neptunes. He made appearances on Timbaland's albums Tim's Bio in 1998, and Indecent Proposal in 2001; Timbaland made plans to sign Skillz to the Blackhand label he was developing, the label failed to materialize. He and Danja Mouf, a member of Mad Skillz' Supafriendz collective, also appeared on a remix of Aaliyah's hit single "Are You That Somebody" in 1998.

Related Topics:
1995 - Atlantic Records - 1990s - Virginia - Missy Elliott - Timbaland - The Neptunes - 1998 - 2001 - Aaliyah

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skillz eventually got a deal with Rawkus, where he released his 2002 LP I Ain't Mad No More, the title of which commemorated the official change of his MC moniker from "Mad Skillz" to just "Skillz". A Supafriends LP, Supavision, and another solo LP. A client for the Mama's Boys management company which also includes Musiq, Skillz has been a featured artist at okayplayer.com, run by ?uestlove of The Roots.

Related Topics:
Rawkus - 2002 - Musiq - ?uestlove - The Roots

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~