Skillz Turned Down The Beat for The Pharcyde’s “Runnin’” and Other Dilla Stories
In 2008 I interviewed Richmond, Virginia rapper Skillz about his debut album From Where??? for The Smoking Section website. Although I discovered the album as a freshman in high school (1999) several years after it was released, it was still very influential for me.
Since The Beatnuts, Dilla, Large Professor, and Shawn J. Period helped provided many instrumentals on Skillz’ debut, I decided to focus on production and the beat selection process for much of our conversation. During out talk Skillz really opened up about his mindset at the time and what is was like working with the various producers on the album.
I am revising the full-length interview and hoping to get access to some photos from this era to use with the piece. In the meantime, with the recent passing of Dilla’s birthday, it seemed like a good opportunity to shed some light on Skillz’ experience working with him.
Many thanks to John Gotty, Skillz, and The Smoking Section for their support and cooperation.
Gino: When you look at the production list on From Where???, it’s amazing that you had such a strong production team for your first album. Could you talk a little bit about what it was like to work with Dilla?
Skillz: Dilla was a person Q-Tip had formed a relationship with and brought into the studio. I still have the first beat tape he gave me. It had “Runnin’”, “Drop’”, and “Somethin’ That Means Somethin’’” by the Pharcyde on it. It also had one of the joints he did for Busta and the two songs he did for me. I did three songs with Dilla beats. One of them we never used. It wasn’t because the beat wasn’t hot, I just couldn’t come up with a hook for it that I liked.
The first beat I heard was “It’s Goin’ Down” and I took that out the gate. That kind of sounded like “Runnin’’” when you think about it, but he sampled two different records for “Runnin’’” and “It’s Goin’ Down”. “It’s Goin’ Down” sampled a Sergio Mendes record. Don’t quote me on that, but I think it was a Sergio Mendes record.
“ You have to understand there was no Slim Kid Tre singing the hook, none of that. It was just the loop and the drums, just the beat.”
The second beat I heard was “The Jam”. It had a real eerie melody (Skillz begins humming the songs melody). That’s the sample that was running under the track. At the time he was using an SP-1200 and a S-950. When you hold down the tap and repeat button on the SP with whatever sound you’re using, it speeds it up. It made a crazy sound, and when he did that right before the track came in, I was like, “Oh, that’s nuts.” When he asked if I liked it I was like, “Yeah, you gotta keep that in there right before the verse.”
He said, “Aight, cool. That’s some shit I be doing just to make sure my drums are right at the top so when I hit the pad, there’s no air between. That’s how I check my drums.” We kept it, and that’s what “The Jam” turned into. Dilla was definitely ahead of his time.
I paid him three grand for each song, so he got a check for $9,000 dollars. I remember he came to Battery Studios one day when we were mixing and he told me, “I don’t care how big I get. I could be as big as Dr. Dre or Quincy Jones. If I ever get big, you will always be able to get a beat from me for what you paid me on this album.”
That’s how humble of a person he was. He was young, he kept that Detroit fitted cap on, and he was just in there working. The Pharcyde was recording in the studio next to me. That’s how they came up on “Runnin’” and “Drop”. That’s the classic Hip-Hop story. I run into a lot of Hip-Hop historians and they’ll say, “I don’t know how true this is, but the Hip-Hop folktale is you passed up on “Runnin’”. All I can say is, “Yeah I did.”
“I’m just sad I never had a chance to work with him again. He’s definitely missed.”
Gino: (Laughs) So people give you a hard time for that one?
Skillz: Oh man, do they?!? (Laughs) The real heads are like, “Skillz, what were you thinking?” You have to understand there was no Slim Kid Tre singing the hook, none of that. It was just the loop and the drums, just the beat. But even when you tell them that they go, “Still, I just can’t see it kid.”
Gino: That’s amazing that Dilla would approach you after the album was done and say that you could still go to him at that price.
Skillz: I knew he meant it. There was never a question of him living up to that statement. I knew he would. I’m just sad I never had a chance to work with him again. He’s definitely missed.
Connect with Skillz on Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, his website, and on Twitter @skillzva.
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