Much like his previous work, Skillz puts his talent and ability on the mic at the forefront of his music. With the use of clever word-play and punch-lines, Skillz delivers and will make you crack a smile with a clever punch-line or three at least once on each of the 15 tracks.
The album opens with a heavy upright bass and snare track courtesy of DJ Jazzy Jeff titled, “The Million Dollar Backpack (Intro)”, a dedication of sorts to the backpack and its place throughout the annals of Hip-Hop. From there it jumps to “Where I Been” which explores the life and times that have been Skillz over the years, followed by “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know”featuring Freeway where both do the typical emcee braggadocio thing. From beginning to end The Million Dollar Backpack doesn’t really follow a specific theme or pattern; the songs don’t flow together in any real way with a structure that is rather haphazard. Perhaps there is a purposeful random feel to the album signifying the random placement of items you find in a backpack… possible, but doubtful.
The Million Dollar Backpack covers topics that tend to be standards like “I’m a dope emcee”, “I been a dope emcee for years” and the topic du jour, “Hip-Hop is Dead or Alive”. The lone variance is a story that doesn’t ever really come together and lacks the luster of a great story. “Preachin’ to the Choir” has potential for greatness with a plot twist and all, but Skillz just isn’t able to deliver. The story drags, he shows minimal rhyming skills and it comes to an abrupt end.
The beats and rhymes in this Backpack will draw you in and continue to grow on you. But it will never reach classic status because Skillz isn’t a classic emcee; he’s above average and above average is what you get.
