''From Where???'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist Mad Skillz. It was released on February 13, 1996, via

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. It was produced by Mad Skillz, Buckwild, Shawn J. Period,

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

, DJ Clark Kent, EZ Elpee,

Large Professor William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and music producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground ...

, Nick Wiz, and

the Beatnuts The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez ...

, with Rob "Reef" Tewlow serving as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Kalonji the Immortal, Dr. Mindbenda, Javon the Medieval, Large Professor, Lil' Roc, Lonnie B and Q-Tip. The album peaked at number 154 on the ''Billboard'' 200, number 18 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

and number 5 on the

Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart in the United States. The album was praised for its strong lyrical content and production, however, suffered from low sales, possibly due to being released the same day as

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

's '' All Eyez on Me'' and the

Fugees The Fugees () are an American hip hop group formed in South Orange, New Jersey, in 1990. The trio of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill was known for their fusion of hip hop, reggae, R&B, and funk; their socially conscious lyrics; and ...

's ''

The Score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...

''. The singles "The Nod Factor" and "Move Ya Body" received moderate radio and video airplay.

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 3 contains elements from "Superman Lover" performed by

Johnny "Guitar" Watson John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), often known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career spanned 40 year ...

*Track 12 contains elements from "Only Human" performed by

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D. (band), L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. B ...

Personnel

*Donnie " Mad Skillz" Lewis – vocals (tracks: 2-16), producer (tracks: 1, 5), mixing (tracks: 1-11, 13-16) *Kalonji Coleman – vocals (tracks: 5, 15) *Jonathan " Q-Tip" Davis – vocals (track 8) *Lonnie Battle – vocals (track 15) *Dr. Mindbenda – vocals (track 15) *Ahmed "Lil' Roc" Rahman – vocals (track 15) *Javon The Medieval – vocals (track 15) *Anthony "

Roc Raida Anthony Williams (May 17, 1972 – September 19, 2009), better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners. Biography Williams joined the X-Me ...

" Williams – scratches (track 2) *Lester "

Psycho Les The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez ...

" Fernandez – scratches & producer (track 3) *Diallo Malbrough Moss – horns programming (track 5) *Andrew Smith –

keyboard bass Keyboard bass (shortened to keybass and sometimes referred as a synth bass) is the use of a smaller, low-pitched keyboard with fewer notes than a regular keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the deep notes of a bass guitar or double bas ...

(track 7) *Joseph "DJ Riz" Rizzo – scratches (tracks: 14, 16) *James "

" Yancey – producer & mixing (tracks: 2, 11) *Anthony " Buckwild" Best – producer & mixing (tracks: 4, 6, 10) *Nicholas "Nick Wiz" Loizides – producer & mixing (track 7) *William "

" Mitchell – producer & mixing (track 8) *Rodolfo " DJ Clark Kent" Franklin – producer & mixing (track 12) *Shawn M. Jones – producer & mixing (tracks: 13, 14, 16) *Lamont "Ez Elpee" Porter – producer & mixing (track 15) *Rob "Reef" Tewlow – executive producer, A&R *Tony Smalios – recording (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 10, 11, 13, 15), mixing (tracks: 1-3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 15) *George Karras – recording (tracks: 3, 4, 7) *Rich July – recording (tracks: 6, 14, 16), mixing (tracks: 14, 16) *Troy Hightower – recording & mixing (track 8) *Kenny Ortiz – recording & mixing (track 12) * Tim Latham – mixing (tracks: 4, 6, 10) * Tom Coyne – mastering *Daniel Hastings – design, photography *Miguel Rivera – design, photography *Christian Cortes – design *Glenn Orenstein – production coordinator

Charts

;Singles chart positions

References

External links

* {{Authority control Skillz albums 1996 debut albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by J Dilla Albums produced by Buckwild Albums produced by the Beatnuts Albums produced by Large Professor Albums produced by Clark Kent (producer) Big Beat Records (American record label) albums