Debut album by Shaquan "Mad Skillz" Lewis aka Skillz, rapper from Richmond, Virginia. He was born in Detroit, and also grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The production is signed by Shawn J. Period, Diallo, EZ Elpee, Buckwild, The Beatnuts, Nick Wiz, DJ Clark Kent, Jay Dee and Large Professor. Guests are Kalonji the Immortal, Large Pro, Q-Tip aka The Abstract, Khim Davis, Dr. Mindbenda, Javon the Medieval, Lil Roc and Lonnie B. The stellar cast behind the keyboards grants the boy very solid support and the rapper proves to be a good lyricist and a good performer with a tight and fast hardcore style — in "The Nod Factor" I noted how his voice is similar to that of Big L, but it's something everyone seems to have noticed, so I let it go — offering a fun and compact project.
East Coast music provided by some of NYC's top producers is simple boom bap with midtempo and hard drum machines and a coherent selection of melodic samples, inventing a musical carpet on which Mad Skillz is at ease, making many excellent songs such as "VA. in the House", "Doin' Time in the Cypha" (enveloping and beautiful loop from "Come Into Knowledge" by RAMP, legacy of that dark atmosphere that pervaded the New York hip-hop scene in this period), "Street Rules" and "All in It".
Released by Atlantic subsidiary Big Beat, the album suffers from the weightlessness of the rest of Virginia's regional hip-hop scene. of which Mad Skillz was one of the few represented at the time, which is reflected in the charts where the record struggles to carve out a own space, reaching the top 20 among the rap releases. It's a good battle rap disk and an enjoyable listen for boom bap fans. 7.5/10.
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