Jeff Weiss of Passion of the Weiss details “A History of the Hip Hop Skit” dating from 1988 to present on Red Bull Music Academy with help from Stetsasonic member and producer Prince Paul.
Compton, California rapper King Tee began the movement on his November 1988 album, Act a Fool, with “Baggin On Moms,” while De La Soul popularized it, according to Weiss. [Though it is not mentioned in the article, N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton was released in August 1988 and also included skits.]
Prince Paul gave his insight on the evolution of skits embedded within Hip Hop music. Paul credits King Tee as the first artist who was most likely to include a full Hip Hop skit, “Baggin On Moms,” on Act a Fool, and shares how he had the idea to include skits on De La Soul’s 1989 project, 3 Feet High and Rising.
“We sat around listening to the record and I realized that we needed something to link it together,” Paul says.
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“When Paul proposed the 3 Feet High and Rising Game Show,” Weiss writes in the story, “the four plugs effortlessly fired off improv riffs about the Alligator Bob, the joys of Twizzlers, and the number of feathers on a Perdue Chicken.”
Paul goes on to explain why De La Soul chose to add skits to its album.
“We did it to fill that void, to give our album some structure,” Paul says. “It was just something we tried out and it evolved. We never thought it would become a rap album staple.”
According to the story, N.W.A has been credited as the group that spearheaded the skit trend on its 1990 EP, 100 Miles & Running, which included five dedicated skits.
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“Prince Paul praises the N.W.A salvos as the format’s peak,” Weiss writes.
The rest of the story details the evolution of Hip Hop skits and concludes with Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 album, good kid, m.A.A.d city.
The album covers for N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton, King Tee‘s Act A Fool and De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising are below.
