Skyzoo & The Other Guys — The Mind of a Saint
On his latest full length project Skyzoo teams up with The Other Guys, producing a concept album written and rapped from the perspective of Franklin Saint, one of the main protagonists from the FX Series Snowfall.
Concept albums are a difficult task to pull off, however if correctly executed it can be a work of art that showcases the intelligence of the artist, and their high level penmanship. Fortunately, Skyzoo has showcased this as he writes from the perspective of a protagonist from a drama series, that protagonist is Franklin Saint. Franklin (played by Damson Idris) is one of the main characters from FX’s Snowfall, on the show Franklin is an ambitious teenager who grows to become a drug kingpin in Los Angeles during the 1980s crack epidemic. On this album, Skyzoo impressively seems to tap into the mind of the character and raps from his perspective and creates what seems like a new universe were Franklin is a rapper.
“They stole my beret so pardon me if I call for applause,
for living through the death of my history, reparations every time I get a ki’”
The ten track album starts off with “Eminent Domain”, a freestyle where Skyzoo (or Franklin) touches on how there was a lack of opportunity in his life growing up, telling the listener to “picture opportunity skipping over who you be”. The first few bars of the song is perhaps providing context to the reasons why Franklin will choose to sell drugs in the future, as Skyzoo describes opportunity not recognising Franklin and the ability for Franklin to purchase his dream car seems so far away. On the show Franklin Saint’s father Alton is a former Black Panther, hence for the third track ”Panthers and Powder”. “Rest In Peace to Bobby Hutton, and all the legacies it wouldn’t seem like I’m in touch with”; mentioning Bobby Hutton who was the first recruit for the Black Panther Party, Skyzoo starts the first verse brilliantly. He indicates how many wouldn’t expect Franklin, a drug kingpin, to have ties or at least be in touch with a political organisation such as the Black Panther Party. Some may think as to how or why Franklin, who has links to the Black Panther Party, would end up selling drugs and Skyzoo touches upon this and provides reasons on the second verse.
Credit must be given to The Other Guys for the great production they provided throughout the album, with the biggest highlight being on the fourth track “Straight Drop”. Sampling The Pharcyde’s 1995 classic single “Drop”, Skyzoo continues to rap from the perspective of Franklin, telling tales of Franklin’s drug dealing. With the great production from The Other Guys, Skyzoo effortlessly flows well on the laidback instrumental, his lyricism and storytelling paints a vivid story of what Frank goes through. From drug manufacturing to drug dealing.
I previously mentioned that Skyzoo creates this alternate universe with the Snowfall series, and the absolute best example of this is with the last track “Purity”. On the second verse of the song, the Brooklyn rapper creates this story where Franklin meets a gentleman named Dawit and his two sons, Sammy and Ermias. Basically, Franklin has had an encounter with a young Nipsey Hussle, his father and brother. With the encounter leaving an impression on Franklin.
The Mind of a Saint is a fantastic and unique concept album, even though I personally have never watched Snowfall (it’s on my list of things to see) I am still able to enjoy the stories and tales that Skyzoo puts together. I’m sure when I actually watch the show I will gain more appreciation for the album. Again, credit to The Other Guys for the production on this project, but Skyzoo is most definitely the biggest highlight from the project. From his story telling, lyricism to his flows; Skyzoo has delivered a really great project.