First of all, I ain’t even want to make this shit
There’s a lot of rap cats out here faking the shit
I’m a ghostwriter, I’m the cat that you don’t see
I write hits for rappers you like and charge ’em a fee
Yo don’t get me wrong dog, it’s the cheddar that counts
But fuck that nigga ______ cause his fucking check bounced
You thought ______ your single was hot? 
I wrote that shit five minutes in a parking lot
I’m the one that your man ______ had to go and get
Cause he smoked too much lye, couldn’t write his own shit
Now ______ A&R, he on my answering machine sick
Hollering in my phone, "Skillz, can you write to this?"
Sure, for stacks, nigga, I make your act bigger
But fuck ______ and his whole label cause I ain’t never get my plaque, nigga
Jadakiss told y’all cats and that’s that
Y’all have a ASCAP or get your ass capped

Now that fool ______ can’t flow, but his crew is sick
Cause he got long dough, so wait til you hear his new shit
I did two songs for ______ til they dough got straight
And even ______ from the west coast owe me some pape
Remember the little kids, the one that was in ______ group? 
I’m the reason you thought they lil raps was so cute
I had a hundred songs on the billboard list
Ask again dog, how I got your deal on my wrist
I did done NBA cats and NFL
But I stopped in ’97 cause they shit don’t sell
Now _______ paid up cause she was owing me stacks
Who in the hell you think had that chicken flowing like that? 
I hate writing for _____ cause he take too long
Crying about the price, I hit him with two fucking songs!
Ran up in ______’s office and wrecked his staff
Cause it’s been two years and dog ain’t paid the second half

So if you just signed, trust me dog, you can’t touch it
Don’t ask your label for Skillz, cause that ain’t in your budget
Y’all cats parlay for chips, I mingle for mills
I turn your whole album into a single deal
I stopped writing for ______ cos that fool don’t get it
Looking long sessions and he punching every five minutes
Where my ones, nigga? What the fuck I look like? 
And his man ______ got mad cause he couldn’t get the hook right
I spit ______ and we don’t see eye to eye
So I feel like Lee took his rollie up in BMI
I’m the one that gave ______ his brand new sound
I did his last two albums without even writing ’em down
And for _______ from the South, dog you shook
Stop bouncing on stage nigga like you wrote that hook
You favourite rappers’ songs? I put the flames in it
Y’all keep fucking around - I’m a put this back out with your names in it!

Mad Skillz - Ghost Writer

De La Soul is Dead

Skit 5

The Awakening

Words From Da Ak (Interlude) [feat. Akinyele]

and the Anonymous Nobody...

You Go Dave (A Goldblatt Presentation) [feat. David Goldblatt]

Made In Brooklyn

Let's Get Into Something

How We Do

Diggy Das

https://linktr.ee/wearedelasoul

De La Soul is back—but did they ever really leave? After delivering their seminal debut 3 Feet High and Rising in 1989 with the production genius of Prince Paul, the New York City-bred trio of Posdnuos (Pos), Dave and Maseo went on to further impact Hip Hop culture with five more groundbreaking albums: De La Soul Is Dead (1991), Buhloone Mindstate (1993), Stakes Is High (1996), Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000) and AOI: Bionix (2001). But once the digital age exploded in the late ‘90s, De La Soul’s celebrated catalog was unavailable to stream. As the decades passed, the tight-knit group forged ahead anyway—touring the world, connecting with their adoring fanbase and making music on their own terms. Following 2004’s The Grind Date, De La Soul took a hiatus from making albums, but joined The Gorillaz on the track “Feel Good Inc” which won them a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration.  In 2015, the group raised over $600,000 on Kickstarter from fans to independently release their album and the Anonymous Nobody, which was their first #1 on the Rap Albums chart, and was also nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy.   

However, the demand for unreleased De La Soul music was palpable and the cry for access to the first six albums grew louder. Unfortunately, De La Soul was stuck riding a roller coaster of stalled negotiations, dashed hopes and dead-end conversations with their old label, and the group nearly gave up. 

"We have lived without the music up for long, these six albums haven’t been up—ever,” Pos says. “We got used to knowing they weren’t up.” In June of 2021, Tommy Boy Music was acquired by Reservoir, giving De La Soul’s catalog a new home.  In March of 2023, the six missing albums were finally available to stream.  But sadly, right before the catalog release, Dave, the beloved member of De La Soul, passed away. Though bittersweet, De La Soul preserves his legacy and the ongoing impact of their music. 

As iconic songs such as “The Magic Number”, found new life in the film Spiderman: No Way Home in 2021, De La Soul continues to resonate with a diverse population of people. 

As Pos notes, “We’ve noticed over the past several years of tour like, ‘Wow, there’s a father here with his child who also is here with their child. ‘We’re generational. To me, there’s nothing more gratifying than that. That means something. That’s telling about a group. What we were doing wasn’t just stuck to that time.”

“We really naturally been that group for everyone,” Pos says. “It was never about we’re just here for this community, that community, this set of people or these certain fans of Hip Hop culture. We see music as music. We’ve been very resilient, even being a group that didn’t have our music up [on streaming platforms]. We still had these beautiful opportunities through young people finding out about us through a commercial or Spider-Man. Now that it can all be there for people to gravitate to, I’m really happy about that.” 

De La Soul's impact on the musical landscape is immeasurable, with 3 Feet High and Rising widely regarded as one of the most influential albums of its era. Pioneering inventive sampling, playful lyrics, and eclectic beats, the album broke new ground and set a standard for creativity in the genre. Recognizing its cultural significance, the album was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

Skit 5

De La Soul

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