Growing up just a block away from The Notorious B.I.G. watching him go from local kid to rap superstar, Skyzoo couldn\u2019t help but dream big. He started making mixtapes in 2002, and in 2005, through a mutual friend, was introduced to Grammy-winning producer 9th Wonder. The North Carolina native was won over by the upstart MC\u2019s talents, and readily sent him beats to record over\u2014which would soon become 2006\u2019s \u201cCloud 9: The Three Day High\u201d, a mixtape that launched Sky into Hip Hop\u2019s consciousness. His deft wordplay, confident delivery, and vivid imagery were all on display. Fans continued to flock following \u201cCornerstore Classic\u201d in 2007 and 2009\u2019s \u201cPower of Words\u201d, each mixtape again showcasing Sky\u2019s skillset as a hood poet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was September 2009\u2019s \u201cThe Salvation\u201d, though, released through Jamla\/Duck Down, that solidified the rhymeslinger into an elite class. Still riding the wave of his debut, Sky returned in July 2010 with \u201cLive From the Tapedeck\u201d, an album produced entirely by !llmind. The summer of 2011 brought \u201cThe Great Debater\u201d, a free mixtape of album-quality material that Sky treated his fans to as a follow up to two retail releases. In 2012 Skyzoo returned with \u201cDream Deferred\u201d another album through Duck Down which featured \u201cFor What It\u2019s Worth\u201d, \u201cNecessary Evils\u201d, \u201cSpeakers On Blast\u201d and more.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year Skyzoo returned with his new album \u201cMusic For My Friends\u201d which continued in the lineage of elite lyricism, vivid storytelling and open book honesty that Skyzoo is known for. The album features the likes of Jadakiss, Black Thought (of The Roots), Bilal, Jahlil Beats, Apollo Brown and more. It was also the first album released on his own record label First Generation Rich.<\/p>\n

What are your earliest memories of music?<\/strong>
\nMy earliest memories of music go back as far as me being three or four years old. My parents had me at a young age so they would drive around with me as an infant and in my early days of school listening to Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Slick Rick, and NWA. So even before I started to make music of my own, it was embedded in me. Between that and living in the projects and hearing it in the hallways and outside the windows from the 18th floor, I was surrounded by music.<\/p>\n

Who were your musical influences coming up?<\/strong>
\nI started rapping at nine years old due to seeing Chi-Ali\u2019s \u201cAge Ain\u2019t Nothing But A Number\u201d video on video music box. After that, I wanted to make music immediately. From there, my early influences or pretty much everyone who I named that my parents would play and that I would hear in my neighborhood, as well as your artist later on when I became a preteen. Artists such as Nas, Biggie, Jay-Z, Raekwon, the GZA, and more.<\/p>\n

What are some of your most memorable moments from back when you were starting out as an MC in New York?<\/strong>
\nWhen I started out, I was really young so the climate was different. Most kids weren\u2019t saying that they wanted to be a rapper, they all wanted to go to the NBA or the NFL. Me being in school and being able to wrap during lunch as a kid was almost a novelty. I was one of the few in my generation. Once I got to high school and it became a little more the norm in there would be tons of was wrapping in the lunch room and tons of us in my neighborhood. As a kid, I did it all. Talent shows, standing in front of the corner store in a cipher rapping, stand in the park in ciphers rapping, everything. I just wanted to set the stage for making memorable music for years and years to come.<\/p>\n

With such a rich history of dope MC\u2019s from the 5 boroughs how did Skyzoo stand out from the rest of the pack?<\/strong>
\nFor me, it started with who I was raised listening to. That pretty much laid the foundation for who I was to become lyrically and musically. When I made music as a kid, the goal was the same as when I make music in 2015: be as dope as possible and never take a day off. The guys I grew up listening to never took a day off. They never slacked. They never expected anything less than great from themselves, so I instilled that in myself and moved the same way musically. I stood out lyrically and as far as my knack for storytelling. That easily put me in front of most locally, especially back then at such a young age.<\/p>\n