just like to rhyme, kick the lyric Skillz like Pele

Dropping the prefix “Mad” from his name to leave just the Skillz, could be something of a fitting metaphor for the new, and for many, eagerly-awaited long-player “Million Dollar Backpack” from this nobleman of the underground scene. Because with this album Skillz has done what he has threatened to do throughout his long, interesting and sometimes turbulent career, and drop an album of consistent quality that is simply all about his lyrical flow, and yes skills. Drop the “mad”, and just leave the skills, see? And if the name he goes by is streamlined and concise, then the same could also be said of this pithy, smart and inventive new album, all laid out over fresh beats, and tied together with the freestyle flow and magnificent wordplay for which Skillz is rightly feted.

More famous in recent years perhaps for his always entertaining year-end “Rap-Ups”, as well as his semi-scandalous expose of the true skills behind some monster selling hip-hop names with 2000’s “Ghostwriter” cut, Skillz could be said to take a measured approach to releasing his own work in anything like a coherent package. But as “Ghostwriter” testifies this is far from due to a lack of application and lethargy * the man is always busy and in demand * but the rap game is fickle and perhaps it is just opportunity that needs to come knocking for Skillz to have the chance to really shine. And on “Million Dollar Backpack” he really does shine. Skillz is true to the essence of hip-hop, to the tongue-twisting metaphors, similies, lexicon pilfering and straight up clever wordsmithery that has always been at the root of why rap is the game we love so much.

Forget about sales, shallow artist collaborations put together by the label, getting with the hot production stable, refining an image that sell. Just stick to essentials and heads will recognise. Taking it back to when it was cool to just vibe on a notepad and rock a fresh Jansport, “Million Dollar Packpack” bristles with lyrics which carry a message as well as rhyme tight, bemoaning crass and capitalist elements of the game, while uplifting and exalting others. Beats are laidback but bumping enough to give the album momentum, and in particular Jazzy Jeff, ?uestlove and Jake One offer glimpses of brilliance.

But as with all of Skillz previous works it is the lyrics that deserve most attention, and so it is as our narrator kicks flawless flow after flow that mix his bravado and rightful swagger, with insight and puns that most big-selling would give an arm for (or at least lay an arm and a leg, as many have done). Like he says on standout “So Far So Good” where he trades verses with Common (or Talib Kweli on the remix) “If opportunity comes, I'ma see what its bout, You can see it in my swag, I done figured it out, If you see doubt, I'm thinkin’ that y'all better re-route, Cause I'ma walk these dogs till Mike Vick get out". Whether this will be the album for Skillz as a performer to finally get the props he deserves remains to be seen.

If truth be told, probably not because that just isn’t how the rap game works. But he has his ghost-written proceeds to kick back with and the knowledge that as a rapper and lyricist there are few who can live with him, perhaps he is comfortable with that. This album could be a future classic, a long-player that history heralds as a great slept-on collection in an age when having an LV on your bag seems to carry more weight than the source material within. So go on and check it out. I know you itchin to get the Jansport out again at least once.