Retrospective - Skillz "Imagine"

I've just been checking out the video for the B-side of one of the better singles from the latter part of the original Rawkus Records "Golden Era" in 2002. The track is "Imagine" by Skillz, which was released on the flip of the "Suzy Q" 12".

Given the nature of the narrative to this track, I'm going to strongly advise anyone who hasn't heard it before to listen to the track first and I'll then break down my thoughts on it.






******SPOILER ALERT ON WHAT FOLLOWS******



Essentially, the tune starts off as a near-perfect instrospective gangster rap record. Skillz tells the cautionary tale of how he chased money all the way into the depths of the drug game and ended up killing his own brother, being betrayed by one of his crew and imprisoned for seven years. It's presented in a raw, emotional manner, yet somehow also with matter-of-fact delivery - and on first, casual impression sounds to be full of genuine regret and rooted in real-life experience.

In the very last verse, Skillz switches abruptly from cussing other rappers for being less real than him when they speak on street violence to admitting that the story underpinning the whole track has been a lie. It's a bold creative move - rather than merely complaining that gangster rappers lie (a common enough accusation from supposedly intellectual underground rappers), Skillz shows and proves by creating a pitch-perfect replica and then subverting it to devastating effect.

Far beyond his raw technical ability - considerable though it is - it was this track that convinced me of just how great a rapper Skillz is.

"Imagine what I could do with a pad and a pen... but I choose to tell the truth in the end."