Skyzoo is the perfect name for a man who is going nowhere but up. The Brooklyn native has been generating a buzz for the past few years. You’ve probably seen him in XXL Magazine’s “Show and Prove,” and in Spin Magazine for having the most downloaded single with his J Dilla tribute, SkyBlackDonuts.

His latest project, Cloud 9: the 3 Day High, is a collaboration with 9th Wonder. It’s 12 tracks of straight Hip-Hop ─ no gimmicks, no cheesy hooks ─ craftily put together in three days. While Skyzoo has been doing exceptionally well as an independent artist, he’s looking for a major deal on his own terms. Receiving accolades from Jay-Z to Sean Price to Nas, is a sign that the kid ain’t no joke and the deal he’s looking for, may be a heartbeat away. HipHopDX.com caught up with the emcee to get his take on his music, the state of Hip-Hop and why he will not lose.

HHDX: You’ve done five independent mixtapes was this all-local stuff as in, sold in the hood?
Skyzoo: Yeah, local as far as being only in New York but I always had some kind of buzz in other states and other cities, even overseas. So, I always got out to a different audience, one way or another.

HHDX: Do you have bigger buzz overseas?
Skyzoo: I don’t know because I’ve never been over there but I know my buzz is big because I have a lot of fans over there. I would think that it’s bigger over here, though.

HHDX: You’ve been making music since you were nine, in what capacity? Were you writing rhymes? Were they good rhymes because you know how kids get down? Everybody says what they’re doing is cute regardless.
Skyzoo: To me at the time, it was [laughing]. The way I wrote my first song was looking out the window and writing about what I saw in front of my building. It wasn’t A-B-C-D. I looked out the window, saw something going on and wrote about it, that’s how I started.

HHDX: You’ve received accolades from Jay-Z, Nas, Buckshot, Sean Price and EPMD for your street-heavy, sharp narrating. What’s it like to have an icon tell you that you’re dope, especially Jay-Z or Nas, who are known for their storytelling skills?
Skyzoo: It gets no better than that. To me, those type of accolades are even bigger than having number one on TRL or number one on 106 and Park because those are serious people who decide that; who say, “Yo, you got it, you’re dope, you’re the future.” It’s crazy. From Buckshot to Sean P, EPMD to Primo, all the people who have been showing me so much love and been like, “You’re the future, I love your s- -t,” it blows me away. I’m a humble person. I’m never like, I already know that or anything so anytime anyone tells me something like that whether it’s someone established or a 10-year-old kid around the corner, it makes me feel great. Continued on page 2 »