Skillz Drops the 2019 Rap-Up, Just In Time For New Years

The Richmond MC covers the last twelve months in the culture.

The artist known as Mad Skillz is at it again. On Monday (Dec. 30), he released the latest chapter of his annual Rap-Up. In the five-minute track, he covered everything from the Jussie Smollett saga, the Tekashi 6ix9ine trial, to Game of Thrones’ Season 8. Check out the track above.

This year marks the 17th version of the Rap-Up. At this point, it's a hip-hop institution. At this point, the tradition has outlasted dozens of rap empires. He's as sharp as ever on this year's edition.

Skillz he last few years have been pretty eventful for Skillz. In November 2017, his hometown University of Richmond named him artist-in-residence for its Spring 2018 semester. He joined Richmond liberal arts professor Erik Nielson to teach a course focusing on hip-hop.

In early 2018, he and Uncle Murda had a short-lived beef over yearly wrap-up raps. The two exchanged diss tracks, Skillz sparking things off with “Murda Gram” over DMX's 1998 track of the same name. Murda responding with “Why You Mad?” The beef spilled into Instagram DMs, and Murda later boasted about stealing the concept in his interview on The Breakfast Club.

This past summer, Skillz wrote Lil Duval and Charlamagne the God’s “Black Men Don’t Cheat” track. He made a brief cameo in the accompanying video, and even plugs the track in this year's wrap-up. 

Earlier this year, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney declared February 13 “Mad Skillz Day” in Richmond. The honor commemorated the 23rd anniversary of Skillz’s debut album From Where???

SOURCE: YouTube