MY INTERVIEW WITH SKYZOO

WORDS BY KHALID STRICKLAND a.k.a. BLACK PACINO

Brooklyn’s own Skyzoo, complete and confident rap lyricist, has a debut album in stores called The Salvation.  The acclaimed LP was released this past September courtesy of Duck Down Records, a label that’s been on a roll as of late.  To recap, Skyzoo has recorded with DJ Premier, 9^th Wonder, Sean Price, Maino, Ron Browz, Flo-Rida, Illmind and many other folks of merit.  His mixtapes have circulated the streets like dirty burners, gaining him a congregation of fans.  This heavy grind was the battering ram for The Salvation.

Skyzoo spittin’ a rhyme is comparable to Allan Houston shooting a basketball: pure, accurate and textbook.  The Salvation roped people in with its accompanying “Saving Our Grace” short film clips.  One video features an ex-con, complete with dress shirt, tie and du-rag, looking for legit work after paying debts to society.  Another clip features a worker at the local chicken shack, doing what he must to make ends meet.  Rather than glamorizing one aspect of hood life like every rapper that steps off the assembly line, Skyzoo illustrates various points of view.

With The Salvation finally in the iPods of the people, Skyzoo and I got on the horn for an interview.

Black Pacino: Why did you name your album The Salvation?

Skyzoo: A lot of people read that title and think it’s about me saving Hip-Hop or something like that.  But it’s really just about me and what’s my salvation.  And if you’re listening to the album, what’s your salvation and what do you get from it, na’mean? So the concept was really based around the title in a literal sense.  It wasn’t really about saving Hip-Hop or saving New York or anything like that people might assume at first.  But really about me and then also the listener: “what’s your salvation?”

Pacino: What would you like to accomplish with this album? Creatively, financially, whatever’s clever.

Skyzoo: I definitely would love to see some good numbers for it but I also know the climate that we’re in right now as far as the music business and as far as business in general.  But as far as beyond that, I just want the album to resonate with people, man.  I want people to get it and I want people to listen to it and really dig into it and understand it.  It’s not a one-listen album.  If you listen to it one time, you’re gonna walk away like, “This album is crazy.”  But if you listen to it three or four or five times, you’re gonna be like, “This album is beyond crazy.  This album is something special to hold on to… it’s epic.”  It’s something that means a lot.  And there’s so many layers to it that you dig into.  So that’s really what I want people to get.  Get a feel for themselves and I want people to see themselves in the album.  Like when they listen to it, they hear what I’m doing and they see the pictures I’m painting… I want them to see themselves in that.  I want to touch people.

Pacino: Nowadays an album for a solo artist is more like a compilation with all the guest stars they have.  But you didn’t really put any guests on this jump-off.

Skyzoo: I just feel like with my first joint, this is my baby.  I really want people to get a sense of me and maybe on the second one, the third one, you’ll get a couple of collabos and features and make it real cool.  But I decided to dolo this one out.  ‘Cause I want to make a mark on people and let them know that this is me and my story.  And no one else could help me tell my story except me.  And I think at the end of the day, it may not mean a lot to anyone else but I can down saying that on my first joint, I wrote every single word on it.  It wasn’t a verse from this person or a feature from that person.  Or if I go get whoever’s hot at the moment, they write their verse and they’re a part of it.  I can honestly say I wrote every word on there, even R&B hooks and everything.  I wrote every single word on this album.  So that means something to me.

Pacino: What inspired those “Saving Our Grace” video clips? I thought they were really interesting.

Skyzoo: Appreciate it, man.  The whole goal of those was to really draw people into the project.  I didn’t want to go the normal route and leak records.  I think when people drop albums nowadays the first thing they do is leak a ton of records; you get half the album before it comes out.  I ain’t wanna go that route because I wanted people to have something to look forward to.  When people get the album, I want them to be like, “I only heard 2 records on this album.  I’m dyin’ to hear the rest of it.”  Instead of, “Well, I already heard half of it already so I pretty much got the album and I’m over it.”  I didn’t want that but I still wanted to draw people in (using) a creative and unique way no one else had done before.  I came up with the concept, I put that whole thing together.  I found the director, I found the people for the roles and I put the entire thing together 100% on my own.  The response has been crazy from it and we’ve got much more comin’ out.  A new one came out every week until the album (was) released.  Each episode reflects a different emotion that’s on the album.  I didn’t just put them together for the sake of doing it.  You see the 9 to 5 worker that represents a certain phase on the album.  You see the ex-con, that represents a certain phase on the album.  They all have a purpose because they reflect something on the album.

Pacino: So those aren’t raw candid clips, those are people you wrote a script for?

Skyzoo: Yeah, we put it together.  I wanted certain emotions to be portrayed with it.  Every character that’s in it, all of those roles and everything, I know people who are literally going through that stuff.  A lot of my friends just came out of jail, a lot of my friends got 9 to 5’s.  But I ain’t want to put nobody’s life on blast.  I didn’t want to put one of my dudes who just came home on camera saying, “I just got home.”  I wanted to take that same emotion in that story that affects so many people and still get it out there without puttin’ nobody on blast. And a lot of people that I know respected that.

Pacino: Describe your style of music for the uninitiated.

Skyzoo: I bring versatility, the complete package.  Beyond that, a ton of versatility and honesty and everything is authentic with me, man.  The music I make is a reality.  Especially with this album, every single thing that you hear on the album really happened.  Records like “For What It’s Worth,” “Dear Whoever,” “The Shooters Soundtrack.”  All of those records, “The Beautiful Decay,” “My Interpretation”… all those records really happened.  I really wanted to make sure that I was the person who was authentic and waving that flag for creativity and originality with it still being honest at the same time.  A lot of people just go too far to be too much when it’s not real.  I really wanted it to be a reality as far as everything you hear.  So with me as an artist you get all of that.  So with me as an artist you get all of that.  You’re gonna get tons of lyricism.  I’m known for being a lyricist and being one of the top dudes as far as writing and as far as my lyrics and how I go with it.  You’re gonna get that.  You’re gonna get sick flows as well.  You’re gonna get incredible beats.  That’s the way I put it together.

Pacino: You just did a joint called “Connect Four” with Thorotracks, Sha Stimuli, Shabaam Sahdeeq and Chaundon.  You cats thinking of teaming up on some Slaughterhouse shit? Is that in the works or ya’all just got together for a song?

Skyzoo: Nah, we just be havin’ joints, man.  We just be havin’ a ton of records.  We’re all friends at the end of the end of the day. We’re all peoples so we pass record around and we get on each other’s records.  There was never any talks of anything.  In the future, I wouldn’t shoot anything down at all before talking about it.  Those are all the homies, I got a lot of love for them and their projects and I know they feel the same way about mine.

Pacino: If you did form a super-group of your own and you needed three other emcees to be in it, would be some of the guys you’d put?

Skyzoo: Definitely people like them.  Definitely people like my man Torae.  There’s a ton of dope artists out there whether they’re overlooked or underrated or not, ‘cause I know sometimes I’m in those categories as well.  But there’s a lot of dope artists out there and it’s hard to choose.  I think it’s a good time for Hip-Hop.

Pacino: Do you have any parting shots for your fans?

Skyzoo: I just want to say thanks to everybody for supporting over the years.  I know a lot of people have been waiting for the album and looking forward to it.  It’s been highly anticipated and looked forward to all year.  People are saying it’s one of the most anticipated records of the year.  I’m real proud of that, real happy about that and it’s something I strive to do.  The album is incredible, man.  Absolutely phenomenal, I love it to death.  It’s the best piece of work I’ve ever done to date.  I’m not saying it’s the best piece of work I’m ever going to do in my life, but for right now this is easily the best piece work I’ve ever done.  The lyrics, everything is painting pictures, the beats are phenomenal.  I think it’s the only Hip-Hop album out now where you’ll hear hard drums and kicks & snares with samples, whatever it may be.  But then you’ll have a trumpet solo come in or a saxophone come in or a live string section.  I think that matters.  A lot of people ain’t making music they’re making records but I’m here to make music.  I just want everybody to know when you drop that $15, it’s the best place you could spend that $15.

SKYZOO ON MYSPACE