In this life, you have two choices. You can talk about what you want and talk about your dreams, or you can go and make them a reality. No matter what it is in life, if you want it bad enough, you’ll make it happen. This is the mindset, that Johnny aka City Boy embodies in his music.

Since his start in 2016, City Boy has been making a name for himself by being himself. Stay true to his South East D.C. roots, City Boy is all about his grind. After the release of his latest single Bag 2.0, fans have been excited for the release of his album When Doves Kry: Reloaded. Well, that day is finally here! After a number of late nights and early mornings in the studio, City Boy decided to bless fans with the release of his long awaited album When Doves Kry: Reloaded. Tracks like “Yellow (The One)” and “One of a Kind” you can really see the artistry and effort City Boy puts in his work. Check out his debut album When Doves Kry: Reloaded, available on all major streaming platforms.

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RESPECT got a chance to catch up with Mad Skillz to discuss DJing and what makes a great emcee during part one of our interview. Today we are back with part two, discussing his illustrious career, his thoughts on some of the most memorable records in Hip Hop and why “Vinyl Destination” was the ultimate show showcasing the DJ experience.

Out of everything that you have done over the span of your career, what would you say was the most memorable moment?

That is tough because I am one of those people who doesn’t realize what I’ve done until after it’s done because I never set out to do some of the things that I have done. Like Barry Gordy didn’t set out to change Black music, he was just having fun. So when people say, “you put Virginia on the map”, it’s crazy to me, because I wasn’t trying to shit on anywhere else I was just repping where I was from.

Over your career, I know you have met a lot of people. Who is one person that you’ve met that had you a little awestruck?

I would have to say when I met Michael Jackson. I was with Missy and it was when he did the big show in 2001 at Madison Square Garden, matter of fact it was September 10, 2001; the day before 9/11 because I remember after it happened Pharrell and I were stuck in New York and were trying to get a rental car to go back to Virginia.

Ok so let’s switch gears, from time to time I like to ask emcees about classic Hip Hop joints and where they were when they first heard it, so let’s start with “Put Ya Hands Where My Eyes Can See” by Busta Rhymes?

That came out in ‘97, I was in Virginia at the time and I first heard it on a DJ Clue mixtape, but I didn’t understand the impact of it until I was at this party and DJ S&S was mixing. It was cool, you know everyone was chilling and socializing, I think “DeJa Vu” was playing, then all of a sudden the drums came in on Busta’s intro and everyone ran to the dance floor and he pulled it back. [Laughs] Man, I knew then Busta had a certified banger.

How about “Takeover” by Jay Z?

Aww man, I heard that on the bootleg before the joint came out because my homeboy did the intro for The Blueprint, but I remember thinking, “it’s over for Nas, Nas is done”. But then Nas came back with Ether and I was like, “gawt damn!”

That leads to the next joint, “Ether”…

I heard it on a mixtape, because my homeboy was like, “have you heard the new Nas?” Personally, I was like I don’t care what Nas says he ain’t coming back from that; because you know Nas was so laid back and you didn’t expect that from him. But my homeboy was persistent and yo, when I heard that joint and the beat dropped and he started going in; I was like, “yo, this n*gga is back!”

Finally, where were you when you heard “I Used to Love H.E.R” by Common?

Oh that’s easy. It was college radio, WDCE 90.1, Mike Street was DJing when he played it and I remember I was so caught up in the story and when he revealed at the end the whole time he was talking about Hip Hop; I was mind blown. I was like, “hold up, run that shit back”, because that was the first time that someone had “usual suspect” me in a record. I mean that joint had me so intrigued and the way he worded it was dope.

Looking back at Hip Hop back in the day, who do you think had the potential but for whatever reason didn’t blow?

I would definitely say Shawnna (from DTP). She had all the elements, she had sex appeal and she could really rap.

You traveled a lot over the past few years with DJ Jazzy Jeff and the “Vinyl Destination” series. Why was that never brought to TV?

I stopped touring with Jeff a few years ago, but I was saying then that we need to look at taking this to TV because I know they would have a place for it. Also, I have to shout out Chris Schaffer for the phenomenal work he does. Looking at it, you would have thought we had a crew, but it was actually just one guy and that was Chris. He’s so dope though that he made it look like we had several. One thing I noticed is that I didn’t know we were impacting as many DJs as we did, when I arrived today for my show I saw a guy had on the Vinyl Destination t-shirt, it’s crazy.

Being a veteran emcee, DJ and overall music lover, what element of Hip Hop from back in the day would you bring to the current state of Hip Hop if you had your choice?

The rule of no biting. Now you can bite someone and it’s nothing, like you can literally take someone’s whole shit. But people don’t realize that it started when emcees were quoting lines from other rappers and some people you wouldn’t question because you knew that the rapper being quoted was cool with that person; so when Jay quoted Biggie, no one said anything because we knew they were cool. But now people will literally copy your whole swag and try to tell you that it’s theirs and it’s acceptable. Like they don’t even go back far enough to know who did it first.

You have been doing a lot lately with the mashups, namely Michael Jackson and Prince, almost all of your events have sold out; is that something you plan on doing every year?

Honestly, I have been thinking about it because that it the type of music that needs to be heard and I know there are a lot of Prince and MJ fans out there who would love to hear them included in sets. Most of the time when you hear old school sets, especially where I’m from, they all sound the same. They usually start with “Outstanding” (by the Gap Band), then it’s going to go into “Before I Let Go” (by Frankie Beverly and Maze) and then you are going to hear “Poison” (by BBD) and I’m like yo, there’s more music than this and that’s why “The Art of Noise” events work, because we play what everyone else doesn’t play.

Your events are always so packed, when is the next one that fans can see you rocking at?

The next big one I am doing is in VA on September 18th called SBV, Surrounded By Virginia, which is playing all Timbaland and The Neptunes because many people don’t know that Magoo, Timbaland and Pharrell were in a group back in the day called SBI, Surrounded By Idiots, so it’s a play off of that letting people know who Virginia really is.

In the next five years, where do you see yourself?

World domination. My goal is to let the music to speak for itself. I want my music to be so far ahead of anything that I ever thought I could do like I want to have the number one record in the country as Mad Skillz the DJ, but people wouldn’t know that it was me, the rapper.

Let’s touch on your social media game, your Instagram account stays popping, but your Snapchat is so hilarious and cool because it’s you being normal. Are you planning on being on Snapchat more often than just on Snapchat Friday?

[Laughs]  I thought my snaps were corny because I was just doing regular shit. I am such a private person and I honestly like to keep certain parts of my life private, so I try to scale back as much as I can because if it’s done too often it becomes normal. So many people act like that having a lot of followers online is the end all be all of their life. [laughs] Let one of these rappers wake up and all their followers are gone, they will lose their minds.

Do you think that social media has given people a false sense of celebrity?

I think that people confuse followers with support because artists will have 30,000 followers but sell two records, that means they don’t support you. People don’t realize how it was back in the day, like I actually had to go to the show in 1996 and see A Tribe Called Quest, wait at the back door and hope to see them and if you missed it you had to take people’s word for what happened on the play by play; they don’t have to do that anymore.

Last but not least, what is one thing about Skillz that no one knows you can do?

I cook. I love to cook and I can make a mean lasagna.

Keep up with the latest from Mad Skillz online at http://www.gotmadskillz.com/

Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat: @SkillzVA

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The post Mad Skillz: Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself-Part Two appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Lyrical legend isn’t a title given freely in Hip Hop, but when it comes to the lyrical talent of Virginia-bred emcee Mad Skillz, that is an understatement. After dominating the rap game for more than 20 years, becoming the most infamous ghostwriter in the game and blessing fans with the long awaited year-end rap-ups, Skillz has successfully transitioned into a new arena, the art of DJing. After successfully crossing over to where few artists have dared to go, Skillz has toured with Nicki Minaj and rocked some of the biggest parties in the world.

Now celebrating his third year as a turntable master, Skillz is once again showing fans that he can’t be boxed in. With the launch of his own radio show on the Beat Junkies Radio station powered by Dash Radio, “Skillz Sets”, which debuted Friday (Sept. 9), with co-hosts Danja Mowf and Mo Wit The Info; Skillz is giving fans a refreshing new show that features a perfect blend of Hip Hop, great chemistry, and hot topics.  

RESPECT got a chance to catch up with Mad Skillz to discuss DJing, what makes a great emcee and why his Snapchat Friday is the coolest thing on social media.

You recently celebrated your third year anniversary of officially becoming a DJ, how does it feel to be so successful in such a short amount of time and how are you dealing with the haters?

Skillz: I mean the fact I made this far is pretty dope and I am excited about that. One thing I have realized is that doing something that people tell you couldn’t do is definitely gratifying and satisfying.

You’ve already spun at a packed out arena with Nicki Minaj, what is your next goal to tackle as a DJ?

I definitely plan to put out original music. I write a lot of songs and some are never heard. I have a few joints that I feel would have legs on their own, so I think I will definitely start putting out some original music in the fall. In fact, I have a record right now that I know could go like right now. With my new project, what’s going to shock people the most is the type of music that it will be because it won’t be Hip Hop. These songs are worldly songs, you know the type you can play for your kids or that soccer moms will play; it’s just feel good music and that’s type of music that I want to put out as a DJ.

https://soundcloud.com/skillzva/live-at-the-bbq

With this new project, will this be a mixtape in the traditional sense or something different?

It will probably be free, it won’t be an album but it will definitely be enough songs for an EP. Although it’s a free project,  I am going to still treat it like an album, by shooting videos for it and including original content. The goal is to reach people who have no idea that I am the same Mad Skillz that does the year end rap-up or that I have been in the game since the 90s.

With the original content, does that mean we will get a song or two with you back on the mic?

Probably not and one of the main reasons is that I honestly don’t have the passion for it anymore like I used to. I told myself a long time ago that the minute it stops being fun, I would stop because I never wanted to be one of those rappers who was a slave to it  and felt like they had to make music or put stuff out when my heart wasn’t in it. Honestly, the further I get from rap the easier it will be for people to accept what I am doing now because I don’t want to confuse people at all.

One thing I have noticed watching your career over the last few years and the events that you are putting together is that you are focusing a lot more on soul music. Even with your impromptu DJ sessions, you are teaching the younger generation the foundation by playing the original Soul sample before transitioning into the Hip Hop song. With that being said are you hoping to decrease the surge of mumble rappers?

I tell people all the time that I don’t think anything stays the same. If Hip Hop still sounded the same it did when you and I first heard it, it would be boring. We loved it, we had our time with it, but it’s theirs now. It’s a different regime, now maybe they should call it something different so it can take away from the expectation that comes with Hip Hop music. I mean as an emcee I don’t particularly like it but if they called it something else, it would be easier to be like, “Oh, that’s what they are doing.”

Do you think because they are labeled as Hip-Hop that our level of expectations may be a little unfair to the newer generation?

I do, because I was reading something on, I think it was Lil’ Yachty, but people were mad because he couldn’t name five Biggie songs and I am looking at the situation like, “He’s 19!” He makes turn up records and records to get people lit, the fans listening to those types of records aren’t listening to them for lyrical content.

With the reduction of the skills required for an emcee and the increase of interest in production, do you think that the DJ is starting to be the main attraction again?

I feel like the DJ never lost his shine because the DJ is the cornerstone. He played the music that the rappers rap to, he played the records that the breakers break to, so you could never ex the DJ out of Hip Hop history because it started with the DJ. Without the DJ to make the pause tapes and DJs like (DJ Grandmaster) Flash and (DJ Kool) Herc, there would be no Hip Hop, but the idea is to expand, so each DJ and artist was responsible for bringing something to the culture; whether it was looping it, or adlibs, we all have the responsibility of making Hip Hop evolve.

Music is a universal language, I have been all over the world and one thing I have noticed is that I could be somewhere where no one speaks not one bit of English, but they know “In Da Club” by 50 Cent because music is that powerful.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the second part of RESPECT’s one on one with Mad Skillz; in the meantime check out Skillz Sets on Dash Radio LIVE every second and 4th Friday of the month 5p-7p EST. To catch last week’s premiere click here or stream it below.

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