RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond rapper and native Mad Skillz, or Shaqwuan Lewis, has been captivating audiences with his smooth lyrics and rapping style for more than 30 years. He’s often credited for putting Richmond and Virginia on the map for hip-hop. And now, for the first time as an artist, he’s celebrating a Grammy nomination for his latest album, “The 7 Number Ones.”
The album takes listeners through seven pivotal moments in the rapper’s life that he says shaped him into the musician and man that he is today. And this time, instead of rapping, Skillz is slowing down the pace with spoken word poetry.
“When something happens for the first time — it’s a memory that stays with you….. good or bad. In that ideology, I had a project… I wanted to talk about seven things that happened in my life — that changed the trajectory of my life,” Skillz told 8News Anchor Autumn Childress. “I think everyone can relate to it — and people listen and start thinking about their number ones.”
Skillz calls the album his most vulnerable yet. The seven-track project dives into Skillz on a deeper level, from the first time his parents met, to the first time he discovered hip-hop and fell in love, and becoming a father. In fact, he tells 8News, the project was so personal, he almost let fear interfere with its release.