FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
"A HERO AND A VILLAIN"
Mad Skillz returns to the Best Spoken Word Poetry album category with "A Hero And A Villain".
A bold deeply human journey through love, doubt, triumph and all the complicated spaces in between. Across 10 tracks he blends spoken word, storytelling, and a rich mix of new voices in a project that tells a completely different story after the first listen. A compelling body of work that we feel is worthy of your vote. Thank you for listening.
PRESS
Tidal Magazine
One year after the highly acknowledged wordsmith, rap hall-of-famer and über-successful songwriter (and ghostwriter) Mad Skillz dropped his last spoken word album, Words for Days, Vol. 1, comes his newest body of work. A Hero and a Villain arguably has tough shoes to fill, since its predecessor just brought Mad Skillz his first Grammy — but it’s nothing the Virginia-bred MC needs to back down from, as it still feels like he’s just getting started, slowly adding new pieces to his award-winning formula. It’s hard to imagine that storytelling and songwriting was ever a challenge for him, and his ear for great instrumentation and beats has been impeccable. What’s new on A Hero and a Villain are some of the more prominent names that lend their voices and POVs to the stories Skillz is crafting. This time around, we have iconic artists like Raheem DeVaughn, Midnite, Jasmine Blooms and Kandace Duke (among many others!) sharing time on the mic, many of them adding soulful vocals and introspective bars. But like in a good movie, a great cast makes the spotlight brighter for everyone to shine in, without stealing focus from the main role or the overarching story. It’s a quest Mad Skillz masters on A Hero and a Villain, further showcasing his ability to write rhymes that write stories that write history. - Philipp Senkpiel August 7, 2026
