The artist formerly known as Mad Skillz could’ve given up on his career long ago and no one would’ve faulted him for chunking the deuce to a rap game that pushed setback after stumbling block in his way.
Following the commercial failure of his debut, 1996’s From Where???, due in part to Big Beat/Atlantic Records’ Craig Kallman and his ill-fated decision to release the album on the same day as two of the biggest Hip Hop releases ever (All Eyez On Me and The Score), the first emcee to put Virginia on the rap map linked up with new state representatives, Timbaland and Missy Elliot. That late ‘90s union seemed as though it would help push Skillz signature brand of punchline-heavy wittiness into the Soundscan stratosphere. But as he revealed during the course of his conversation with HipHopDX, the relationship between VA’s finest subsequently turned sour [click to read], leading Skillz to leave that crew at the dawn of the 21st century with little more to show for his time than a few guest appearances. Unfortunately, Skillz was dealt yet another career blow shortly thereafter when what should have been his sophomore release, I Ain’t Mad No More, was shelved after his then label home, Rawkus Records, was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2002.
But even with all of the misfortunes that have befallen his career, Skillz has refused to throw in the towel. So although it’s taken over 12 years to arrive, he is finally set to release his first official full-length of all new material since his debut. Million Dollar Backpack is due July 8th via Big Kidz/Koch Records. The album boasts heavy-hitting production from ?uestlove, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Kwame, Bink, and more, with cameos from Common, Talib Kweli, Truck North, Black Thought, and Freeway.
Before he took aim at Lil Wayne [click to read] via his blog, Skillz shared some of his thoughts with DX pertaining specifically to his career, including his aforementioned new album, why he’s not just the “Rap Up” rapper, what being one of Hip Hop’s most notable ghostwrites is like, and maybe most notably why he’s been hangin’ out with Will Smith of late.
HipHopDX: Why a million dollar backpack; why not like a $50 backpack, something regular folk like myself can afford?
Skillz: [Laughs]. The [title] Million Dollar Backpack is a way of saying you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Like, everything that I’ve obtained and I’ve gathered up through my course in this Hip Hop, it’s all been from an idea that came out of that backpack. So it’s basically me saying you can’t put a price on this to me.
[The title specifically] actually came from a line from a Twista song [where] Pharrell [Williams] said [that]. It was called “Lavish.” And I remember Pharrell was rappin’ on it and he said, “Big house, big car, big dreams, all that came out my backpack.” The song’s pretty old, but that stuck with me for awhile.
A lot of people say that I make underground music, or I make backpack music, and I think there’s really [only] two kinds of music: I think there’s good music and there’s bad music. I don’t really think there’s anything else.
DX: Let’s get into the album. There’s a Jeezy ad-lib shot on “Sick” [click to listen] and another one on “So Far, So Good” [click to listen]. What did Jeezy’s adlibs ever do to you [Laughs]?
S: Nothing, don’t get me wrong, I like Young Jeezy. I think Jeezy’s pretty good at what he does. It’s just that…[Laughs]...I didn’t really even realize that I said that like twice. It’s just another analogy of being in the background. His adlibs are so relevant in the back. And so it’s just a way of me saying like, “You gonna always be in the back like a Jeezy ad-lib.” No diss to Jeezy.
DX: On “Sick” you also take a shot at L.A. Reid. So what he wore eyeliner and was in a group with a grown man calling himself Babyface, does that give you the right to disrespect him like that?
S: [Laughs]. Man, when people make mistakes I wouldn’t be an emcee that’s paying attention if I didn’t point those things out. And I saw [and old Deele] video not too long ago. I never really knew about that until I saw that video and I was like, “Wow, they had eyeliner on. Like, wow, how do you go from that to…” But it worked out [for him].
DX: That jab wasn’t like a personal thing was it?
S: Nah, I never even met L.A. Reid.
DX: Well since you like taking pot shots at people, what do you say in response to the shot most people have taken at you over the past few years, that you’re just the year end, “Rap Up,” once-a-year-shine guy?
S: If people think that I’m a once-a-year guy, that I just make a song once a year, then you’re not really paying attention. Don’t get me wrong, “The Rap Up” is a big song, but “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know” with Freeway was a banger too. Dope video [click to view], bangin’ east coast banger. “Crazy World,” political, got a message in the song [click to view]. It’s just those songs don’t get as much burn as “The Rap Up” does. I haven’t mastered how to make that happen yet. When I talk about other people you love it like, “Oh my God, he’s so witty. He’s so funny. That song was so on point. He didn’t miss one thing. That shit was so true.” Then when I say, “Gas going up, country blowing up/Million Man March, niggas ain’t showing up.”
DX: Borrrring.
S: Right, yeah, “Borrrring. Ah God, another…” [But] who would I be to have a voice and not speak up on some of these things? I feel like I’m one of the last real voices left. So, for you to wanna take a pot shot at me and say the only time you hear from me is “The Rap Up,” that means to me you ain’t listening.
DX: Well for today’s short attention span fans you gotta be dropping new material constantly, so why have you taken so long to get the actual album out?
S: Because perfection takes time. The last album that hit the marketplace [2005’s Confessions Of A Ghostwriter] was really just a collection of the old Rawkus album that never made it to the shelves. Half of that was I Ain’t Mad No More. Well, 75% of that. I don’t think I recorded anything new for that. All of the material was dated.
I been recording this [new] album for like two-and-a-half years, but it’s got to be right. It has to represent me. And it’s gotta feel good to me. Like, I can’t put out material that’s two years old and expect for people to feel a certain kind of way about it. That’s like me saying “you in the back like a Jeezy ad-lib” in 2010. That’s why I have to leak music, ‘cause it doesn’t resonate if you hold it too long.
DX: On “Where I Been” from the new album you note that you’ve been spending time of late, “In Miami doing it up with Will.” Is that Will Smith you speak of?
S: Yeah, that’s a good friend of mine. He taught me a lot. The lessons that I’ve learned from him, it’s not really to where I could put it into words. He’s a real deal dude. If he says he’s gonna do something, you better believe it.
DX: So should we expect Skillz in like the next Will Smith blockbuster movie or something? Like, what are you guys talking about when you’re together?
S: Well I was just with him the other day. We were talking about working on some music for his movie Hancock. I went to the screening for that and hung out for awhile. And we just tossed around some ideas – me, him, Jazzy Jeff. Those guys are Hip Hop royalty to me. So for me to just be in the same room with both of them it’s amazing. I never thought a little kid from Virginia would be on a movie set with Will Smith.
DX: Now on that same song you also note that your time is often consumed “just out ghostwritin’ these flows,” but I thought your ghostwriting days were behind you?
S: I mean, I’m never gonna stop songwriting. I always write songs. [And] sometimes those songs are not right for me. I’ve made a lot of money, and made a lot of connections, from songwriting. I wouldn’t even call it ghostwriting now because a couple of the people [I write for] are cool with it. But I don’t wanna ruin any of those relationships by saying, “Oh, I wrote so-and-so’s song.” Like, that’s old to me. If you do your homework you know what I wrote. But I’m not gonna ruin the relationship for saying in an interview, “Oh, you didn’t know I did so-and-so?” And then that person is like, “Aww damn, I thought we was cool on that?”
DX: But we need that, man! That’s what we feed off of. C’mon, give me some names, please [Laughs]?
S: Nope. I ain’t doing it. A good ghostwriter never reveals his clients. I learned that after I leaked names.
DX: You didn’t initially in the song [2000’s “Ghostwriter”], you just said some names live if I’m not mistaken?
S: Right, I threw out a couple live. And that came back [to me]. But I’m cool.
DX: [Laughs]. What’s it like I guess, just describe what it’s like to actually be a pen-for-hire; what’s that life like?
S: I mean, it shows that people respect your mind, respect your talent, and anything’s possible behind that pen, man. I’ve done a lot of things behind that pen that got me to a lot of places that I never thought I would see.
DX: But does it ever feel weird watching somebody out there doing something you created like, “Damn, that should’ve been my hit record”?
S: No, ‘cause I was compensated for it. It was my hit record. [Laughs] Like, I don’t need to be in front of the camera all the time. I’m cool. I wanna show other people that it’s okay. I’m a songwriter. You don’t always gotta be in front of the camera. It’s okay to look up to people like me, Sean Garrett, Harold Lilly – these are people’s names that you’re gonna see on a lot of credits.
DX: And how’d you first get into ghostwriting? You just kinda stumble into that, or…?
S: Yep. I damn sure did. It was a situation where I was in a studio and another guy was in the B studio working on some tracks for a compilation with a couple artists. And he came in and heard some of the stuff I was doing and was like, “I wanna give you some tracks so you can write to ‘em.” I did like four songs and he took like three. So after that my name started traveling around.
DX: Compilation. That was Diddy. That was for that No Way Out album, right [Laughs]?
S: [Laughs] No comment.
DX: Does it, or did it ever, lessen your appreciation for artists that don’t write their own shit?
S: No. I mean, because if it did… This is business. Now this is a business. Back in the day, yeah it mighta mattered a little bit. But now, it’s a business. Like, do I really care that Mary J Blige didn’t write “No More Drama”? Does somebody really care that Alicia Keys might not have written “Teenage Love Affair”? I don’t know if she did or not, I’m just saying like…
DX: But you’d be fucked up if you found out Freddie Foxxx wrote “I Ain’t No Joke” or something.
S: I mean, hey, he wrote “Baby Boy.” And I think he… It’s like, you just get into that mindset that there’s so much more that I can say in a song, that I couldn’t say in a rap song. Like, can you imagine me rappin’ “Irreplaceable”?
DX: [Laughs] Maybe.
S: You think that would fly though?
DX: Not the way you do it, no. There’d be a whole bunch of L.A. Reid and Young Jeezy disses.
S: Exactly. I can’t rap “Irreplaceable.” But Beyonce can damn sure sing it. You feel me? So, it’s a business, man. And the sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be in this game.
DX: I don’t really know how to frame this question, but do you think your solo shine like got sacrificed to do that? You think that had any impact on why Skillz didn’t become a multi-platinum superstar?
S: I think everything happens for a reason. And I don’t know if I would wanna be a multi-platinum superstar right now. Because when you get to that height where else is it to go?
DX: And the Feds are setting you up in Walgreens parking lots and whatnot.
S: Basically. I mean, I want a career. I wanna be in a position where when you see me in a certain situation you’re like, “Aww shit, that’s a good look for Skillz. I saw him on so-and-so. I never thought I would see Skillz on so-and-so. That’s a good look for him.” Then if you start seeing me in places that you expected, there’s nowhere else to go but down. I don’t want the Million Dollar Backpack to do [big] numbers out the gate. I really don’t. I know that sounds crazy, but that would hurt my career.
DX: Speaking of the album, “Be Alright” is a “It Was A Good Day” type record, “feel good music” as you call it, but “Crazy World” is some socio-political type stuff that coulda been on the new Roots album. So is the whole album a mixed bag?
S: Definitely. “Where I Been” is more like explaining exactly where I been and what I been doing. “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know” is a straight up east coast banger. “So Far, So Good” is that raw feel good Hip Hop. “Crazy World” is like you said, real political, social commentary. I got a song called “Preaching To The Choir” that’s deep, last song on the album. It’s more like a story, kinda in the same form as “Imagine” that I did a video for on the Rawkus album. “Be Alright,” “Yeah Ya Know It,” “My Phone” is a real crazy song that my man Fusion [produced].
The album is just like a real good Hip Hop album. If you looking for anything else, then you looking in the wrong place. I just made what I would like to call a really good Hip Hop album. Like, if me and Koch could have agreed on that title that’s probably what I would have named it: A Really Good Hip Hop Album.
DX: Anything else on your plate for ’08 besides the album and the mixtape [click to listen]?
S: I got a movie that I’m working on later on this summer.
DX: Like a big Hollywood movie?
S: Nah, just something I’m doing. Film is like my second passion. I been fucking around with film for like the past couple of years. A lot of the money I make I’ve spent that on film equipment.
DX: Is it about a rapper that ghostwrites for Diddy and hilarity ensues?
S: [Laughs] Nah, it’s not. And when I was with Will the other day talking about pitching it, and them checking out the script…
DX: I love how you can just casually drop that: “And when I was chillin’ with Will Smith yesterday... [Laughs]”
S: I mean, like, dude he’s such an influential figure that between him and Jazzy Jeff, like I told you, they’re like living legends to me. I’ve watched their whole career, and I’ve watched it blossom into what they’re doing now. And just to be a part of it… Like, I helped write some stuff on his last album. And to just be a part of that is a beautiful thing because it definitely inspires you. I dare anybody to spend five minutes around Will and not get inspired.
DX: And the final question I have for you is arguably the most important I have to ask: Will you ever be mad again?
S: [Laughs] Professionally, probably not. But on the microphone, every day.
Following the commercial failure of his debut, 1996’s From Where???, due in part to Big Beat/Atlantic Records’ Craig Kallman and his ill-fated decision to release the album on the same day as two of the biggest Hip Hop releases ever (All Eyez On Me and The Score), the first emcee to put Virginia on the rap map linked up with new state representatives, Timbaland and Missy Elliot. That late ‘90s union seemed as though it would help push Skillz signature brand of punchline-heavy wittiness into the Soundscan stratosphere. But as he revealed during the course of his conversation with HipHopDX, the relationship between VA’s finest subsequently turned sour [click to read], leading Skillz to leave that crew at the dawn of the 21st century with little more to show for his time than a few guest appearances. Unfortunately, Skillz was dealt yet another career blow shortly thereafter when what should have been his sophomore release, I Ain’t Mad No More, was shelved after his then label home, Rawkus Records, was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2002.
But even with all of the misfortunes that have befallen his career, Skillz has refused to throw in the towel. So although it’s taken over 12 years to arrive, he is finally set to release his first official full-length of all new material since his debut. Million Dollar Backpack is due July 8th via Big Kidz/Koch Records. The album boasts heavy-hitting production from ?uestlove, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Kwame, Bink, and more, with cameos from Common, Talib Kweli, Truck North, Black Thought, and Freeway.
Before he took aim at Lil Wayne [click to read] via his blog, Skillz shared some of his thoughts with DX pertaining specifically to his career, including his aforementioned new album, why he’s not just the “Rap Up” rapper, what being one of Hip Hop’s most notable ghostwrites is like, and maybe most notably why he’s been hangin’ out with Will Smith of late.
HipHopDX: Why a million dollar backpack; why not like a $50 backpack, something regular folk like myself can afford?
Skillz: [Laughs]. The [title] Million Dollar Backpack is a way of saying you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Like, everything that I’ve obtained and I’ve gathered up through my course in this Hip Hop, it’s all been from an idea that came out of that backpack. So it’s basically me saying you can’t put a price on this to me.
[The title specifically] actually came from a line from a Twista song [where] Pharrell [Williams] said [that]. It was called “Lavish.” And I remember Pharrell was rappin’ on it and he said, “Big house, big car, big dreams, all that came out my backpack.” The song’s pretty old, but that stuck with me for awhile.
A lot of people say that I make underground music, or I make backpack music, and I think there’s really [only] two kinds of music: I think there’s good music and there’s bad music. I don’t really think there’s anything else.
DX: Let’s get into the album. There’s a Jeezy ad-lib shot on “Sick” [click to listen] and another one on “So Far, So Good” [click to listen]. What did Jeezy’s adlibs ever do to you [Laughs]?
S: Nothing, don’t get me wrong, I like Young Jeezy. I think Jeezy’s pretty good at what he does. It’s just that…[Laughs]...I didn’t really even realize that I said that like twice. It’s just another analogy of being in the background. His adlibs are so relevant in the back. And so it’s just a way of me saying like, “You gonna always be in the back like a Jeezy ad-lib.” No diss to Jeezy.
DX: On “Sick” you also take a shot at L.A. Reid. So what he wore eyeliner and was in a group with a grown man calling himself Babyface, does that give you the right to disrespect him like that?
S: [Laughs]. Man, when people make mistakes I wouldn’t be an emcee that’s paying attention if I didn’t point those things out. And I saw [and old Deele] video not too long ago. I never really knew about that until I saw that video and I was like, “Wow, they had eyeliner on. Like, wow, how do you go from that to…” But it worked out [for him].
DX: That jab wasn’t like a personal thing was it?
S: Nah, I never even met L.A. Reid.
DX: Well since you like taking pot shots at people, what do you say in response to the shot most people have taken at you over the past few years, that you’re just the year end, “Rap Up,” once-a-year-shine guy?
S: If people think that I’m a once-a-year guy, that I just make a song once a year, then you’re not really paying attention. Don’t get me wrong, “The Rap Up” is a big song, but “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know” with Freeway was a banger too. Dope video [click to view], bangin’ east coast banger. “Crazy World,” political, got a message in the song [click to view]. It’s just those songs don’t get as much burn as “The Rap Up” does. I haven’t mastered how to make that happen yet. When I talk about other people you love it like, “Oh my God, he’s so witty. He’s so funny. That song was so on point. He didn’t miss one thing. That shit was so true.” Then when I say, “Gas going up, country blowing up/Million Man March, niggas ain’t showing up.”
DX: Borrrring.
S: Right, yeah, “Borrrring. Ah God, another…” [But] who would I be to have a voice and not speak up on some of these things? I feel like I’m one of the last real voices left. So, for you to wanna take a pot shot at me and say the only time you hear from me is “The Rap Up,” that means to me you ain’t listening.
DX: Well for today’s short attention span fans you gotta be dropping new material constantly, so why have you taken so long to get the actual album out?
S: Because perfection takes time. The last album that hit the marketplace [2005’s Confessions Of A Ghostwriter] was really just a collection of the old Rawkus album that never made it to the shelves. Half of that was I Ain’t Mad No More. Well, 75% of that. I don’t think I recorded anything new for that. All of the material was dated.
I been recording this [new] album for like two-and-a-half years, but it’s got to be right. It has to represent me. And it’s gotta feel good to me. Like, I can’t put out material that’s two years old and expect for people to feel a certain kind of way about it. That’s like me saying “you in the back like a Jeezy ad-lib” in 2010. That’s why I have to leak music, ‘cause it doesn’t resonate if you hold it too long.
DX: On “Where I Been” from the new album you note that you’ve been spending time of late, “In Miami doing it up with Will.” Is that Will Smith you speak of?
S: Yeah, that’s a good friend of mine. He taught me a lot. The lessons that I’ve learned from him, it’s not really to where I could put it into words. He’s a real deal dude. If he says he’s gonna do something, you better believe it.
DX: So should we expect Skillz in like the next Will Smith blockbuster movie or something? Like, what are you guys talking about when you’re together?
S: Well I was just with him the other day. We were talking about working on some music for his movie Hancock. I went to the screening for that and hung out for awhile. And we just tossed around some ideas – me, him, Jazzy Jeff. Those guys are Hip Hop royalty to me. So for me to just be in the same room with both of them it’s amazing. I never thought a little kid from Virginia would be on a movie set with Will Smith.
DX: Now on that same song you also note that your time is often consumed “just out ghostwritin’ these flows,” but I thought your ghostwriting days were behind you?
S: I mean, I’m never gonna stop songwriting. I always write songs. [And] sometimes those songs are not right for me. I’ve made a lot of money, and made a lot of connections, from songwriting. I wouldn’t even call it ghostwriting now because a couple of the people [I write for] are cool with it. But I don’t wanna ruin any of those relationships by saying, “Oh, I wrote so-and-so’s song.” Like, that’s old to me. If you do your homework you know what I wrote. But I’m not gonna ruin the relationship for saying in an interview, “Oh, you didn’t know I did so-and-so?” And then that person is like, “Aww damn, I thought we was cool on that?”
DX: But we need that, man! That’s what we feed off of. C’mon, give me some names, please [Laughs]?
S: Nope. I ain’t doing it. A good ghostwriter never reveals his clients. I learned that after I leaked names.
DX: You didn’t initially in the song [2000’s “Ghostwriter”], you just said some names live if I’m not mistaken?
S: Right, I threw out a couple live. And that came back [to me]. But I’m cool.
DX: [Laughs]. What’s it like I guess, just describe what it’s like to actually be a pen-for-hire; what’s that life like?
S: I mean, it shows that people respect your mind, respect your talent, and anything’s possible behind that pen, man. I’ve done a lot of things behind that pen that got me to a lot of places that I never thought I would see.
DX: But does it ever feel weird watching somebody out there doing something you created like, “Damn, that should’ve been my hit record”?
S: No, ‘cause I was compensated for it. It was my hit record. [Laughs] Like, I don’t need to be in front of the camera all the time. I’m cool. I wanna show other people that it’s okay. I’m a songwriter. You don’t always gotta be in front of the camera. It’s okay to look up to people like me, Sean Garrett, Harold Lilly – these are people’s names that you’re gonna see on a lot of credits.
DX: And how’d you first get into ghostwriting? You just kinda stumble into that, or…?
S: Yep. I damn sure did. It was a situation where I was in a studio and another guy was in the B studio working on some tracks for a compilation with a couple artists. And he came in and heard some of the stuff I was doing and was like, “I wanna give you some tracks so you can write to ‘em.” I did like four songs and he took like three. So after that my name started traveling around.
DX: Compilation. That was Diddy. That was for that No Way Out album, right [Laughs]?
S: [Laughs] No comment.
DX: Does it, or did it ever, lessen your appreciation for artists that don’t write their own shit?
S: No. I mean, because if it did… This is business. Now this is a business. Back in the day, yeah it mighta mattered a little bit. But now, it’s a business. Like, do I really care that Mary J Blige didn’t write “No More Drama”? Does somebody really care that Alicia Keys might not have written “Teenage Love Affair”? I don’t know if she did or not, I’m just saying like…
DX: But you’d be fucked up if you found out Freddie Foxxx wrote “I Ain’t No Joke” or something.
S: I mean, hey, he wrote “Baby Boy.” And I think he… It’s like, you just get into that mindset that there’s so much more that I can say in a song, that I couldn’t say in a rap song. Like, can you imagine me rappin’ “Irreplaceable”?
DX: [Laughs] Maybe.
S: You think that would fly though?
DX: Not the way you do it, no. There’d be a whole bunch of L.A. Reid and Young Jeezy disses.
S: Exactly. I can’t rap “Irreplaceable.” But Beyonce can damn sure sing it. You feel me? So, it’s a business, man. And the sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be in this game.
DX: I don’t really know how to frame this question, but do you think your solo shine like got sacrificed to do that? You think that had any impact on why Skillz didn’t become a multi-platinum superstar?
S: I think everything happens for a reason. And I don’t know if I would wanna be a multi-platinum superstar right now. Because when you get to that height where else is it to go?
DX: And the Feds are setting you up in Walgreens parking lots and whatnot.
S: Basically. I mean, I want a career. I wanna be in a position where when you see me in a certain situation you’re like, “Aww shit, that’s a good look for Skillz. I saw him on so-and-so. I never thought I would see Skillz on so-and-so. That’s a good look for him.” Then if you start seeing me in places that you expected, there’s nowhere else to go but down. I don’t want the Million Dollar Backpack to do [big] numbers out the gate. I really don’t. I know that sounds crazy, but that would hurt my career.
DX: Speaking of the album, “Be Alright” is a “It Was A Good Day” type record, “feel good music” as you call it, but “Crazy World” is some socio-political type stuff that coulda been on the new Roots album. So is the whole album a mixed bag?
S: Definitely. “Where I Been” is more like explaining exactly where I been and what I been doing. “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know” is a straight up east coast banger. “So Far, So Good” is that raw feel good Hip Hop. “Crazy World” is like you said, real political, social commentary. I got a song called “Preaching To The Choir” that’s deep, last song on the album. It’s more like a story, kinda in the same form as “Imagine” that I did a video for on the Rawkus album. “Be Alright,” “Yeah Ya Know It,” “My Phone” is a real crazy song that my man Fusion [produced].
The album is just like a real good Hip Hop album. If you looking for anything else, then you looking in the wrong place. I just made what I would like to call a really good Hip Hop album. Like, if me and Koch could have agreed on that title that’s probably what I would have named it: A Really Good Hip Hop Album.
DX: Anything else on your plate for ’08 besides the album and the mixtape [click to listen]?
S: I got a movie that I’m working on later on this summer.
DX: Like a big Hollywood movie?
S: Nah, just something I’m doing. Film is like my second passion. I been fucking around with film for like the past couple of years. A lot of the money I make I’ve spent that on film equipment.
DX: Is it about a rapper that ghostwrites for Diddy and hilarity ensues?
S: [Laughs] Nah, it’s not. And when I was with Will the other day talking about pitching it, and them checking out the script…
DX: I love how you can just casually drop that: “And when I was chillin’ with Will Smith yesterday... [Laughs]”
S: I mean, like, dude he’s such an influential figure that between him and Jazzy Jeff, like I told you, they’re like living legends to me. I’ve watched their whole career, and I’ve watched it blossom into what they’re doing now. And just to be a part of it… Like, I helped write some stuff on his last album. And to just be a part of that is a beautiful thing because it definitely inspires you. I dare anybody to spend five minutes around Will and not get inspired.
DX: And the final question I have for you is arguably the most important I have to ask: Will you ever be mad again?
S: [Laughs] Professionally, probably not. But on the microphone, every day.
