''The Million Dollar Backpack'' is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper and record producer Skillz. It was released on July 22, 2008 via Big Kidz Music and

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

. Recording sessions took place at Homecookin Studios, Larry Gold's The Studio and The Boom Room in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, at Portside Sound, at Donland Studios, at

Chung King Studios Chung King Studios was a recording studio that operated in New York City under that name from 1986 to 2015. It was founded by producer John King and engineer Steve Ett with financial backing from the Etches brothers, occupying three different locat ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, at K1 Laboratories, at The House That Quest Built. Production was handled by

Bink! Roosevelt Harrell III (born February 20, 1972) professionally known as Bink is an American hip hop producer from Norfolk, Virginia, who is noted for his work with Roc-A-Fella Records artists. His most high-profile work has been Jay-Z's critica ...

, Fusion Unlimited, Khari Ferrari,

Carvin & Ivan Carvin & Ivan are a production duo from Philadelphia consisting of producer and songwriters Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins. Initially starting out as solo hip hop artists, Haggins and Barias moved into production and songwriti ...

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...

Jake One Jacob Brian Dutton (born May 11, 1976), known professionally as Jake One, is an American record producer and songwriter.Palermo, Thomas (2008)Jake One Readies New Album, XLR8R, September 5, 2008Matos, Michaelangelo (2004)Rocketship Blowing Up, Se ...

James Poyser James Jason Poyser is an American songwriter, record producer, musician and current member of the hip hop band The Roots. Poyser has written and produced songs for various legendary and award-winning artists such as Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey, ...

, Jimmy "Slim" Rose, Kwamé, ?uestlove, Usef Dinero, and Skillz himself. It features guest appearances from

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

and

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

. The first single off the album was "So Far So Good" featuring

on the album version and

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

on the video version. It is the follow-up to Skillz 2005 album ''Confessions of a Ghostwriter''.

Track listing

Personnel

*Donnie "

Mad Skillz Donnie Shaquan Lewis, (born June 2, 1974) also known as Skillz, or Mad Skillz is an American rapper known for his acclaimed 1996 album ''From Where???'', a reference to his origins in Virginia, not a New York City or Los Angeles rapper. He ...

" Lewis – vocals, producer & recording (track 10), co-producer (tracks: 8, 13), executive producer *Duane Fowlkes – additional vocals (track 2) *Leslie "

" Pridgen – rap vocals (track 3) *Lonnie "

" Lynn – rap vocals (track 4) *Kwamé " K1 Mil" Holland – additional vocals & producer (track 5) *Jamal "Truck North" Miller – additional vocals (track 8) *Tariq "

" Trotter – rap vocals (track 9) *

Maimouna Youssef Maimouna Youssef is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. She is of Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee and African American heritage. She performs music under the stage name Mumu Fresh. Musical career Youssef earned a Grammy nomination for her vocal ...

– additional vocals (track 10) *Durrell "Bishop" Scott – vocals (track 11) *Kenny Wray – vocals (track 11) *Aaries – vocals (track 12) *Cornbread – vocals (track 12) *Maurice "DJ Aktive" Deloach – scratches (track 4) *Leonard "E-Flat" Stephens – guitar (track 7), co-producer (tracks: 7, 12) *

– keyboards (track 13), producer (track 9) *Jeffrey "

" Townes – producer & recording (track 1) *Jacob "

" Dutton – producer (track 2) *

Carvin "Ransum" Haggins Carvin & Ivan are a production duo from Philadelphia consisting of producer and songwriters Ivan "Orthodox" Barias and Carvin "Ransum" Haggins. Initially starting out as solo hip hop artists, Haggins and Barias moved into production and songwriti ...

– producer (track 3), recording (track 4), co-executive producer *Ivan "

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

" Barias – producer (track 3), mixing (tracks: 1-4, 6, 7, 12), recording (tracks: 2-4, ), co-executive producer *Joseph "Usef Dinero"/"Joe Money" Pritchard – producer (track 4) *Roosevelt "

" Harrell III – producer (tracks: 6, 11) *Tyrone D. Tellington – producer (tracks: 7, 12) *Khari Abdul Mateen – producer & recording (tracks: 8, 10, 13) *Ahmir " ?uestlove" Thompson – producer (track 9) *Jimmy "Slim" Rose – producer & recording (track 14) *Johnnie "Smurf" Smith – co-producer (track 1) *Karl "

Dice Raw Karl Jenkins, better known as Dice Raw, is an American hip hop artist, from Philadelphia. He is associated with The Roots, and the now defunct musical group Nouveau Riche. He hooked up with the band while still in high school after Kelo, a member ...

" Jenkins – vocal producer (track 13), co-executive producer *Andre Dandridge – recording (tracks: 1, 7, 12) *Gary Herd – recording (tracks: 2, 6, 9, 11) *Chris "Tek" O'Ryan – mixing (track 4), recording (track 11) *A Kid Called Cus – recording & mixing (track 5) *Kristal Oliver – recording (track 6) *Jon Smeltz – mixing (tracks: 8-10, 13, 14) *Steven Mandel – recording (track 9) *Montez Roberts – recording (track 9) *Jerome Hipps – executive producer *Michael McArthur – executive producer *Mahfuzur "Shomi" Patwary – design, layout *Paul Grosso – design *Laurel Dann – A&R

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Million Dollar Backpack, The 2008 albums Skillz albums E1 Music albums Albums produced by Kwamé Albums produced by Jake One Albums produced by Questlove Albums produced by James Poyser Albums recorded at Chung King Studios Albums produced by Bink (record producer)