Close to 20 years ago, this cat walks into my business, gets behind my turntables (while talking graffiti writing and crate digging), and proceeded to kill it with my own records in front of a store full of customers. I was blown away. A friendship and DJ connection instantly began. A Central NJ music institution and former Scratch Academy teacher, Skills is no joke. He is the consummate DJ. Whether it’s beat juggling, turntablism tricks, or commanding the mic and wooing over the audience, he can do it all. We’ve done many shows together, even an unrehearsed, 4 turntable gig where we played off of each other all night in different genres to a packed crowd. A guy who will give you tips and not be afraid to push the pitch up during you’re set if you’re off a bit, he is both student and teacher, always learning and teaching. Not to mention he’s a walking Hip Hop sampling encyclopedia. Also a great producer, he put in his time crate digging for the right gems to sample and came up with a banging beat many times. If you’re in Jersey and needed a beat, chances are you asked Skills to lay something down for you. He was that guy.

What we have for you today is just another day for Skills. He’s creating a beat for an emcee, and when he gets it down right, you just know. Not like Rhythm Roulette, Skills already has the record picked out and goes through the process of putting the samples together and working the MPC until the thing marinates just right. A family man, who also has an 18 year old son that learned how to produce from him (and is sick as well), Skills is a humble cat on his craft. His kid digs, gets busy on the zigga ziggas, and can make a beat better than a lot of people. So he’s passing his knowledge on to the next generation as well as giving back to his community teaching the youth a lost art. One of the most underrated producers out there, get at him if you want a beat done right. You can also check out his Big Ups interview from the series as well. This is a guy who should be doing big things, he’s one of the good ones.

Check out Skills on Facebook.

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