I spoke a bit with C-VILLE artist and beatmaker extraordinaire Josh Rhett about the upcoming Beetnix gig at Is on Saturday night, and he filled me in on Skillz, formerly Mad Skillz, a hip-hop ghostwriter-turned-emcee from Richmond. After his track "Ghostwriter," which implicates a bunch of rappers that he wrote for and censors the emcees’ names—and it’s quite a list, if you can guess some of the names—Skillz started releasing an annual "Rap Up" to recap the year in news.
And I’m talking all sorts of news. Highlights from the 2008 "Rap Up":
"The system is filthy, for real, G./ How the hell did R. Kelly come up ‘Not guilty’?"
"President Bush is so hated/ He went to Iraq and almost got shoe-sinated."
"Palin? I ain’t gonna discuss her./ She’s probably on the porch now, trying to look at Russia."
Skillz has a good rep among hip-hop musicians: He’s been signed to ?uestlove’s musician roster for a while, and worked with the likes of Common and Talib Kweli. And if rep and rhyme isn’t reason enough to check out his gig at Is on Saturday, there’s always the hope he’ll rap about "The Wire":
"The Wire: Five Season Rap Up." Skillz performs at Is on Saturday at 9:30pm with The Beetnix. Tickets are $10-12.
