Antoine Roundtree (born March 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Skee-Lo, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1995 song " I Wish", which became a hit in several countries and reached No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His first single "I Wish" became a hit on radio and TV during the summer of 1995 with a number one

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

video directed by Marty Thomas that won many nominations and wins from

VMA Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

worldwide. The song was known for its lack of explicit lyrics at a time when

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...

was very popular. His debut album of the same title was released shortly thereafter, earning him two

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations for both the album and single. Afterwards he stopped his rapping career before coming back to release a new album in 2000 and another in 2012.

Early life and education

Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Roundtree and his family subsequently relocated to and then moved to

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

, when he was nine. He first started rapping in 1983. He graduated from high school in

Moreno Valley Moreno Valley is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and is part of the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Riverside County by population and one of the Inland Empire's p ...

before moving back to Los Angeles in 1993. He attended

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

and joined the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...

Career

Skee-Lo's debut album '' I Wish'' was released in 1995, which he first started working on in 1993. The album was a huge success. One of the singles, "Top of the Stairs", was featured in the ending credits as well as the soundtrack to the 1995 film '' Money Train''. He quietly "retired" from rapping five months after the album's release because of a dispute with

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

Sunshine Records. Skee-Lo claims Sunshine Records took all the credit from the album's success, and he did not make a single cent from it. "So I refused to shoot any more videos, promote or record music. I'm not their slave. I wasn't working for free." After many years, he eventually won the rights against the label in court. Skee-Lo recorded a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

of the

Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The t ...

song "The Tale of Mr. Morton", which taught sentence structure ( subject,

verb A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...

and

predicate Predicate or predication may refer to: * Predicate (grammar), in linguistics * Predication (philosophy) * several closely related uses in mathematics and formal logic: **Predicate (mathematical logic) **Propositional function **Finitary relation, o ...

). The song appears on the 1996 compilation album, '' Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks''. In 1996, Skee-Lo became a VJ for both

's ''The Beach House'' and '' The Grind''. He co-wrote "I'll Be Your Everything" by

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

Youngstown. The song is featured on the 1999 '' Inspector Gadget'' movie soundtrack. He returned to the music scene in 2000 with a new single ''I Can't Stop'', which would be the titular track on his second album released in 2001. In January 2010, Skee-Lo returned from another musical hiatus with the EP ''Overdose'' where he collaborated with record producer Michael DeBarge. In 2011 he wrote "Burnin' Up" as part of the soundtrack of the 2013 horror movie '' Killer Holiday'' from Lionsgate Entertainment. MTV produced a music video directed by Marty Thomas that was filmed at actor

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film '' Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. ...

's house, which was rented by his son to MTV without Mandel's knowledge. It was released under his own indie label, Skeelo Musik. Skee-Lo made a guest appearance on a track "Now You See My Life" with former

Hollywood Undead Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2005. All of the band members use pseudonyms and previously wore their own unique mask, most of which were based on the common hockey goaltender design. The ...

rapper Deuce from Deuce's album '' Nine Lives'' in 2012. He released his third album, ''Fresh Ideas'', on his own label Skeelo Musik, via

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

on November 13, 2012. It appeared in stores July 9, 2013.

Personal life

He and his wife, Stacy Ambrose, reside in Los Angeles. He has two children.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{Authority control African-American rappers Living people Rappers from Chicago Rappers from Los Angeles VJs (media personalities) West Coast hip hop musicians 1975 births 21st-century American rappers Scotti Brothers Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people