Customer Reviews

The Million Dollar Backpack

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

3.75 outta 5! Potential is the word of the Day w/ Mad Skillz b.k.a. Skillz. He a beast when he's freestyling and rapping about specific topics. Dude could improve his story telling abilities & beat picking abilities the latter of which he does improves on, on this album compare to the lackluster beats on Confessions of a Ghostwriter. The Albums starts off with a head full a steam 9 of the first 11 tracks are fire. Bink, Questlove, Jake White & another newcomer Fusion contribute on the beat side.v They're joints with Black Thought & Common in which Skillz makes them look old & inadequate. Freeaway kills Skillz on "Don't Act Like You Don't Know", which sounds like a leftover from the Brilliant "Free At Last' album. I rate this probably between the 9th or 10th best best album so far(July 08') this year. If he ever takes his time with his rhymes he could shock the world, Skillz needs more time working on the basics! There so much potential here

It's been almost 3 years since (Mad) Skillz dropped an album, andhe returns with a very solid, 4.5 star one here. Coming into the scence in the mid 90's he dropped 2 albums, and then kind of disappeared from making album for almost 10 years (doing alot of writing and some very nice songs I heard on mixtapes over that time frame) finally coming back with a decent album in '05. On this one, the man with the appropriate name, shows his skills delivery nice flows, metaphors, and story lines. Of the 14 songs on here, 3 are almost classics, only 1 is ok, the other 9 are good, most being real good songs. Guests aren't too heavy, rapping on 4 songs and doing the hooks on a few other ones. Production isnice as well. Khari Ferrari does 3 songs, Fusion Unlimited and Bink each do 2, and Jake One, Jazzy Jeff, Orthodox, Usef Dienro, Kwame, ?uestlove and Jimmy Rose all do 1 song. I also like in the booklet it has a story of how each song came together. A very impressive album to have from a very under rated MC, and will no doubt be a top 10, probably top 5 album of 2008.

#1 - 9.5 (tight beat)
#2 - 8.5 (f/ Dionne Folkes)
#3 - 9 (f/ Freeway -- nice beat)
#4 - 9 (f/ Coomon -- another tight beat)
#5 - 8.5
#6 - 8 (f/ Kristal -- nice story behind this one)
#7 - 8
#8 - 9 (f/ Truck North -- good beat)
#9 - 9.5 (f/ Black Thought of the Roots -- tight beat)
#10 - 6.5 (f/ Maumouna Youssef)
#11 - 9 (f/ Kenny Wray -- deeper song with nice beat)
#12 - 9.5 (f/ Cornbread -- tight beat)
#13 - 8.5 (f/ Khari Ferrari)
#14 - 9 (another deeper song and nice story)

D. Lewis -- Richmond, VA
check all my reviews

There has been a long-running joke in hip hop about battle rappers. While they are great at competing, they are terrible at songwriting and song structure. For a minute, it looked like Skillz was headed down that path, especially if you've heard his 1996 debut, "From Where???". He's back with his first new album in three years, "The Million Dollar Backpack", named so because he was more successful behind the scenes than in front as an artist. He was an in-demand ghostwriter for P. Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, and Will Smith (he co-wrote the title track to Smith's 2005 album, "Lost And Found") among others.

On this new album, it is more focused lyrically, while musically, the sound is an obvious attempt at commercial success, especially on the songs "Crazy World", "(For Real) He Don't Own Me", and "Where I Been", which features singers on the hooks. Surprisingly, it works very well. As a master of punchlines, his humor is still intact on the song "Sick". The hilarious "My Phone", in which Skillz tells the story about how he has the phone numbers to numerous beautiful actresses and singers...until his phone got run over by Jay Leno.

However, not everything is funny, as he talks about the strange world we live in today on "Crazy World". On "I'm Gon' Make It", he describes his experience being in poverty and his willingness to rise above the situation.
The album closes with the industry themed "Hip Hop Died" and "Preachin' To The Choir", a religious themed song with a surprise ending that will leave you baffled. The best track on the album is the song, "Don't Act Like You Don't Know", in which Skillz is upstaged on his own song by Freeway. Overall, I'll say that I really love this album and hated that it got overlooked.

I've been a fan of Skillz since he was known as Mad Skillz. I look foward to his end of the year rap up tracks every new year & this album is a nice change of pace for him. Every track on this album is ill, from the title track to "Sick", a song about how long Skillz has been so sick on the mic. Concepts are dope & the beats are Hip Hop to a "T". And not too many guest appearences as well. If you're a real Hip Hop culturist & rap fan, this album is a must-have.

Skillz definitely comes back correct with The Million Dollar Backpack. This is an extremely well rounded album. The Intro is dope and energetic and definitely sets the tone. Skillz has dope production throuhout; definitely a step up from 2005's Confesssions of a Ghostwriter. Skillz shows that he is more than just a battle rapper with a wide range of topics on the album. Standouts include "So Far So Good" with an always entertaining Common feature. "(For real) He Don't Own Me" is a dope track about Skills' pursuit of an already involved woman. The beat by Bink is dope on this one. "My Phone" adds a little humor to the album as Skillz boasts about being a mack of celebrity proportions. Skillz hits with back to back bangers with "Hold Tight" featuring Black Thought of The Roots and "Crazy World", which by the way has a dope video. In my opinion, there are no "bad" songs on the album. Skillz comes with the perfect balance of lyricism and tight production to give hip-hop fans what they have been craving!

Mad Skillz has been deep in the Va hip hop game since the early 90's, but unfortunately I've heard very rare material from him. I remember he caught my attention on the single "Crew Deep" from Soundbombing 3, and was supposed to have an album come out that ended up being shelved. Luckily I was able to get this album here, because it shows that he has been very talented, not to mention a very popular ghostwriter for numerous rappers.

His latest album The Million Dollar Backpack is pretty dope sounding. There are a few hit or miss songs here, but the songs that hit are great. My favorite is "So Far, So Good" with Common (there is a version with Talib Kweli that I've yet to hear). "Where I Been" is a great comeback song, to tell his fans whats been going on. "Don't Act Like You Don't Know" featuring Freeway, and "(For Real) He Don't Own Me" are other standouts.

After that song, the album sort of falls off. Songs like "Crazy World", and "I'm Gon' Make It" fail to work. "Hip Hop Died" sounds like just another rapper adding in his two cents on the state of hip hop. Other songs not named are neither bad or good songs, but they just don't standout like the rest do (although I liked "Be Alright", and "Preachin' To The Choir" was a solid standout).

Skillz dropped a nice album for the summer of '08. Although it's not groundbreaking, it does add to one of the better albums that were released this year. Skillz has been slept on since he has debuted back in '96 (From Where??? which is out of print). Right now, I advise those to wake up, and enjoy what Virginia has to offer (depending on your geographical terms, it's either southern or east coast). Peace.

Lyrics: B+
Production: B+
Guest Appearances: B
Musical Vibes: B+

Top 5 Tracks:
1. So Far, So Good (featuring Common)
2. (For Real) He Don't Own Me
3. Be Alright
4. Preachin' To The Choir
5. Where I Been

Honorable Mention:
1. Don't Act Like You Don't Know (featuring Freeway)
2. Hold Tight (featuring Black Thought)

Skillz has released a classic ya'll. Very rarely do you find an MC who has clever word play, doesn't curse, has great beats, and makes good music these days. Skillz has released a gem that will be played for years. Witty lyrics, banging beats, and great concept songs make this easily in the top 5 albums released this year.

I dig a couple tracks on this album but There is only 1 that has a fantastic beat and thats "My Phone".
The Lyrics are bland and lack any sort of real meaning or texture. He sounds like a kanye wanna-be with his style, and thats nothing to be proud of. Some fun stuff, but overall not a good album.