Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz) is a talented freestyle rapper & performer from Richmond, Virginia USA. He first made a name for himself by finishing in second place in a US freestyle rap competition in 1992, which resulted in a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Skillz' debut album ‘From Where???’ dropped in 1996 and in the late 90s he allied himself with fellow VA natives Missy Elliott, Timbaland and The Neptunes and has appeared on Timbaland's albums ‘Tim's Bio’ in 1998 and ‘Indecent Proposal’ in 2001.
The album title ‘The Million Dollar Backpack’ refers to the “backpack rap” genre used to describe conscious, underground rap in the 90s. “So Far So Good” featuring Common is the first single from the album.
Guests on the album include Common, Freeway and Black Thought (of The Roots).
Beats produced by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Questlove (The Roots), Kwame, Joe Money (J-Live), and Khari Ferrari (The Roots).
