Listen to Skillz’s ‘2016 Rap Up’
Skillz is back with his annual “Rap Up” record. Throughout the song he recaps the year using clever rhymes. Obviously, 2016 was a doozy, so the Virginia rapper had plenty to work with this time around.
“They got mosquitoes with the Zika so don’t get bit/Peyton and Kobe Bryant both called it quits,” Skillz spits. “I got to admit, fam I get mad as shit/When I swipe my card and they say ‘no you got to use your chip’/Damn Daniel, Hamilton was lit/Who let Kanye West get 53 million in debt.”
The hip-hop veteran’s writing ability is on full display here, as he combines elements from pop culture, sports, politics and more to summarize a crazy 2016. His year-in-review hits you in a fun and engaging way, and his 2016 version is especially worth the listen, because of all the insane events that went down.
Toward the end of the track, the 42-year-old MC raps, “And I hear y’all talkin’ bout ‘Kanye is fine’/Well to us, it looks like Kanye lost his mind/Cowboys kept ballin,’ them ‘Boys in a zone/Bryson Tiller came along and kept tellin’ us ‘Don’t.’” You can check out the entire, five-minute song above courtesy of SoundCloud.
Shout-out to Skillz for continuing a tradition he started back in 2002. In case you missed it, be sure to listen to his “Rap Up” tracks from 2015 and 2014.
If you want to listen to more of Skillz’s music, you can go back and peep his last studio album, Made in Virginia, which he released with Bink in 2014.
Here Are the 50 Best Hip-Hop Projects of 2016
Subscribe to XXL on