INTERVIEW: Meet E-skills AKA "Mr. Somebody"

INTERVIEW: Meet E-skills AKA “Mr. Somebody”

Pin It

After much success with his first debut mixtape “Mr. Nobody”, Topp Dogg Hill / SkyHigh Recordz Recording Artist E-Skillz links up with DJ YKCOR again for his upcoming mixtape “Mr. Somebody”, which drops 6/20/2011 via coast2Coastmixtapes and Revolt Radio.

Black Knight: Thank for taking the time out to do this interview with Revolt Radio.

Black Knight: Before we jump into your upcoming mixtape, let’s get to know you a little better, were exactly are you from (Born & Raised), & how long have you been involved with music?

E-skills: I was born in Managua, Nicaragua and moved to the United States after a couple of years because of the problems my country was facing at the time. After coming to the states we bounced around from Texas, Florida, Virginia, and finally settled out here in MD. I grew up in 1st street, Maryville, and Lincoln Park area..And is the only place I’ve ever claimed. MoCo is what I represent all day. Far as my involvement in music, I’ve been involved in it since I was young. Started writing rhymes and recording on Karaoke machines at 16, started my own label SkyHigh in 2004 with a couple close friends Prota-J, Philly Phill, B-Eazie, and NufSed. It wasn’t until then that I started taking music seriously.

Black Knight: I understand you engineer also, do you engineer all your own music ? Who are some artists you have worked with on that tip?

E-Skills: I engineer, mix, and master ALL of my music. After a while these are some of the things you learn and pick up as you learn your own sound. I used to hate going to other peoples studios and leaving with a mix that I wasn’t happy with. So I started investing in my own equipment, and stopped complaining…lol. I’ve also learned how to do some graphic design, and video editing. These were the tools needed to take a hands on approach with your career, and over the years I’ve learned them out of necessity…( I couldn’t always afford to pay for these things to get done ).

Far as whom I’ve worked with as an Engineer? I’ve done a bulk amount of my brother Whitefolkz’s mixtapes, which were all amazing by the way. All Drae, Tese Fever, Bugz Slim, B-Eazie, NufSed The King, Tone Trump, and not to mention the homie Wordsmith. I’ve been blessed to have these people trust me enough to allow me to work with them. The engineering has opened a whole new door as far as artist’s I’m exposed to, which is awesome when I’m looking for certain artist to collaborate with…

Black Knight: Who are some of your major influences in life & Music?

E-Skills: Influences in life? GOD, My mother, my step dad, my grandmother, my son, all of the people who have helped shape me as person first are who I give that credit to. If you listen to a lot of rappers they have these untouchable alter ego’s who differ from who they are in real life, and who they are in the music field. Listen to me and you’ll see that Skillz is who I am on and off track. I’m that way because of the people I mentioned above. They’ve all help me stay humble, grounded, and made me feel like being myself is enough to attract people to my message and music…because both are like me…Real. As far as my musical influences, I would say Pac. His personal take on his music, his realness, and his ability to relate to others even after a decade of being deceased is amazing to me. I love Wiz Khalifa’s sound, Lupe Fiasco, Kid Cudi, these guys are all guys who I relate to, and enjoy and could say I’m influenced by as an artist. Aside from Pac I can’t mention an old school rapper, because if I did, I’d be a straight up liar. I don’t listen tot he radio at all, but I’m exposed to these new wave artist because I download a lot of mixtapes and albums…so for now these are the guys that make the type, and style of music I can see myself making.

Black Knight: Okay, Now to the mixtape, ” Mr. Somebody” Which you have already dropped 2 very dope singles from “What Up” and “Sex & Success”.. What is the motivation behind this project? Should the listener expect a total 360 from your prior mixtape “Mr. Nobody” ?

E-Skills: My motivation was to make good music. Period. I make music that I like, and it may sound bad, but I don’t make music to cater to other people. I do try to relate to others though, and love it when someone hears something they can feel, and understand. My over all approach to this tape was to give them full songs though, better collabs, and to push myself as an artist..which I think I did well. My last project was kind of scattered everywhere, freestyles, one verse songs, it just didn’t have a completed feel to me..but I wanted to put something out so bad after joining up with Topp Dogg Hill…I kind of wanted to get the message out that I’m not just an “engineer”, I’m an artist too…and the tape did well, so I guess people heard me loud and clear.

Black Knight: What is the most important song on the project to you, the song that you hope everyone pays special attention to?

E-Skills: Honestly…I hope and wish they pay attention to all of the songs…lol..but if I had to focus on one It would have to be “Never Gave Up” which features Mina Leon. It’s a very special track to me personally because the song was dealing with a situation I was going through at the time, AND because it showed that I wasn’t afraid to think and go outside the box. No matter how silly I feel listening to the song, I cheese so hard because its one of those tracks that I KNOW people are going to be like WTF???!!! And it all worked out because Mina was the puzzle piece that was needed to put this beautiful picture together.

Black Knight: Creating an entire project can bring along a lot of ups and downs in the process, what was your favorite moment during the creation of “Mr. Somebody”?

E-Skills: I faced a lot of changes musically, and personally during the process of making this tape which prolonged the dropping of the tape. The hardest part was dealing with the writers block, and personal issues I faced which left me unmotivated, and uninspired. but one of my favorite moments had to have been when I recorded “Spotlight” because it was the last track recorded for the mixtape..but it was just an inspirational moment for me. I was in the studio with good people, drinks, and it was just fun. If you listen to that track you can feel the RAW energy I felt. Maybe it was the Hennessy, or the company I had during the writing process of that song…but it took me back to when I used to be in the studio with the team and that competitive nature came out of us and all we wanted to do was write THAT verse which killed the others…lol..It was a feeling I had forgotten about because most of the music I make now is usually when I’m by myself.

Black Knight: Who are some of the artist & producers you worked with on “Mr. Somebody”?

E-Skills: The only producer I personally know and worked with was Benny Rome, who produced the “Mr. Somebody” anthem. He sampled a quick bar from the “Mr. Nobody” freestyle I did on my last project and created an amazing sound bed for the title track. All the other producers were straight from soundclick.

Black Knight: What message do you hope to convey to your fans through “Mr. Somebody”?

E-Skills: That we’re ALL Somebody’s!! I dealt with a lot of hate during the process of this tape which originally was going to be called something else…but one day my girlfriend said “You are Mr. Somebody” since you got these guys talking so much. Which made sense…I must be important enough if I got haters right?..lol..So the name stuck, and the message did too…I’m not a Nobody, I’m Somebody to A LOT of other people, my family, friends, and peers who respected me enough to contribute to the tape. So don’t be fooled people, haters will go out of their way to make you feel like nobody, but remember that if you’re important enough for them to pay attention to you. Then you’re simply “Somebody” of importance, why else would they watch so closely? Right?

Black Knight: What can we expect to see from you next?

E-Skills: I’m trying to pull the SkyHigh team together and do a SHR mixtape with Ykcor, but we’ll see. All the members have gone in different directions but we all still speak, so if everything goes well and as planned you guys will have a SkyHigh Mixtape coming your way very soon.

Black Knight: What words of advice can you give for up and coming artist trying to make a name for themselves in this business?

E-skills: DONT CHANGE, OR CONFORM. Be yourself, don’t be trapped or fooled into thinking that you have to be a certain type of artist because then you’ll loose yourself in the bullshit that comes with trying to be who you’re not. Keep grounded, and stay humble. Show love, even when the love shown back is minimal. It’ll all pay off soon…but most of all trust in God, and know he’s put you on this path to do great things. if not you’d be a carpenter, a teacher, or be doing something not even remotely close to music.

Black Knight: Again, I look forward to hearing “Mr. Somebody” in its entirety, and thank you again for taking the time out to do this interview with www.revoltradio.com Please feel free to give any shout outs and any last words to you your fans

E-Skills:
Man, I just want to thank everyone that’s contributed to the project.

A special twitter shout out to @DCsPeoplesChamp who is an honest to God supporter of most of the DMV artist’s I see on twitter. So follow him, gain support, and learn to appreciate fans like him who actually give 2 shits about what we’re out here doing!

Also, my brother Prota-J who constantly was a positive driving force in me not giving up mid way through this project, and not to mention my brother Jasvid who’s from the start thought I was the best ma’fucker out there. Shout out to them, all the money in the world couldn’t replace them two!

Jenny for always pushing me to do my best, and for not allowing me to settle for anything less. NufSed for constantly providing me the needed reinforcement, the whole Evo-sys crew for all the love they’ve shown..Brizzle, “Mr.White”, Akil, Black G. Topp Dogg Salute to my Doggs, and my Wolf Pack homie All Drae. I can go on forever, so I’ll stop there.

To the people supporting me outside of that circle. Thank you, Keep supporting!! Not only me, but other great artist in the D.M.V. We do this for ya’ll, we represent ya’ll. So support!!