Biography
Born David Willis, Ski Beatz—also known as DJ Ski and originally MC Will-Ski—worked as a hip-hop producer after his time in the 1990s rap group Original Flavor. Ties to Damon Dash, who managed Original Flavor, led Dash to bring him onto Jay-Z’s first album, Reasonable Doubt, released in 1996; the project marked Ski Beatz’s initial major production credit and included its first major single, “Dead Presidents.” He also handled “Feelin’ It,” built on an Ahmad Jamal sample, and “Politics as Usual,” which looped a Stylistics recording, both reflecting the jazzy and old-soul textures that shaped much of his work from the mid- to late-1990s. Following the album’s critical reception, he started Roc-A-Blok Productions in partnership with Jay-Z and Dash’s Roc-A-Fella Records and began working with Camp Lo and Sporty Thievz. He produced most of Camp Lo’s debut, Uptown Saturday Night, which appeared in 1997 and featured the hit single “Luchini aka This Is It”; the track drew blaxploitation-style horns from Dynasty’s “Adventures in the Land of Music” to extend the group’s seventies motif and became one of the era’s most recognizable beats. Ski Beatz kept his Jay-Z connection alive on the sophomore album In My Lifetime, delivering the standout singles “Who You Wit II” and “Streets Is Watching.” Although Roc-A-Blok soon closed, he stayed busy, creating tracks for Nature, members of the New Jersey crew the Outsidaz, Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Ras Kass, and Proof while continuing to handle the bulk of Camp Lo’s later albums Let’s Do It Again and Black Hollywood. After a period apart, he renewed his creative link with Dash by joining the DD172 collective, later nicknamed “the 24-Hour Karate School,” where he worked with Mos Def, Jay-Z, Electronica, Jean Grae, and others. A strong partnership also formed with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, resulting in Ski Beatz producing all but three songs on Pilot Talk. He made his solo debut in 2010 with the self-produced 24 Hour Karate School, an album that included verses from Curren$y, Jim Jones, Ras Kass, Jay Electronica, the Cool Kids, and additional guests.
Albums
