From Where??? is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist Mad Skillz. It was released on February 13, 1996, via Big Beat/Atlantic Records. Originally scheduled for a September 5, 1995 release. Recording sessions took place at Battery Studios, Unique Recording Studios, Quad Studios and Soundtrack Studios in New York City. Production was handled by Mad Skillz, Buckwild, Shawn J. Period, J Dilla, DJ Clark Kent, EZ Elpee, Large Professor, Nick Wiz, and the Beatnuts, 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 and number 5 on the Heatseekers Albums 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's All Eyez on Me and the Fugees's The Score. 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 Track 12 contains elements from "Only Human" performed by Jeffrey Osborne
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" Williams – scratches (track 2) Lester "Psycho Les" Fernandez – scratches & producer (track 3) Diallo Malbrough Moss – horns programming (track 5) Andrew Smith – keyboard bass (track 7) Joseph "DJ Riz" Rizzo – scratches (tracks: 14, 16) James "J Dilla" Yancey – producer & mixing (tracks: 2, 11) Anthony "Buckwild" Best – producer & mixing (tracks: 4, 6, 10) Nicholas "Nick Wiz" Loizides – producer & mixing (track 7) William "Large Professor" 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 Chart (1996) Peak positionUS Billboard 200 154US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 18US Top Heatseekers (Billboard) 5
Singles chart positions Year Song Chart positions Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1995 "The Nod Factor" — #76 #26 #16 1996 "Move Ya Body" — #85 #27 #8
References
External links