Songwriter, poet, rapper and Grammy winner Mad Skillz (Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian)
“And the Grammy goes to… ‘Words for Days, Vol. 1’ — Mad Skillz.”
That announcement rang out at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena in February during the 68th Grammy Awards for the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Though not his first nomination, it was the first Grammy win for Richmond-based songwriter, poet and rapper Donnie Shaquan Lewis, who performs under the name Mad Skillz.
Skillz has been active in the Richmond music scene for nearly four decades. He heavily involved his colleagues in the creation of “Words for Days, Vol. 1,” with a total of 14 local collaborators credited.
“A Grammy is the highest honor in music, so to actually have one is a testament to just staying true to your craft,” Skillz says. “To be able to get that for spoken word, when I’ve had an affinity with English since I was like 13 — it’s a beautiful win, man.”
The album started taking shape after his record “The Seven Number Ones” landed Skillz his first Grammy nomination in 2025, also for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Though that LP didn’t win, Skillz says “Words for Days, Vol. 1” was born from shaking off the disappointment of the loss.
“It took me a couple of days to get that black cloud off me,” he says. “[But] I started to think about other people and how they might be dealing with what’s going on in their life, … and then I tried to find the similarities, and that’s when it clicked.”
The record is a thoughtful journey through the days of the week, exploring life’s challenges and successes. It opens with “Sunday’s Service,” a gospel track that focuses on spirituality and truth-telling, and culminates with “Saturday’s Groove,” a feel-good tune that examines the influence of music.
Skillz performed at open mics to spread the word about his new project and to get others involved, encouraging them to message him. In April 2025, he completed recording sessions at Spacebomb Studio in the Fan, and he says, “that’s when I knew I had something special.”
When the award was announced, Skillz was still on the red carpet, so one of the album’s producers, Bee Boisseau, whose stage name is Bee Boy$oul, accepted the Grammy on his behalf. After a stint in Colorado and the Washington, D.C. area, Boisseau was in the process of moving back to Richmond when he got the call from Skillz to help out with the LP. “We took some tracks to the studio with live musicians,” Boisseau says. “One dude would have an idea, and somebody else would have something that goes with that, and there’s real organic collaboration.”
Hip-hop and soul artist Ant The Symbol also served as a producer on the LP. “It’s not something I saw for myself recently, if ever,” he says of the Grammy win. “I had no problem just pouring all of my energy into the local music scene — it just so happens that we have somebody with the amount of pull that [Skillz] has who is willing to do the same thing.”
Spoken word artist Nyesha Fox, who grew up in Hopewell, has lived in the River City for more than a decade. She first connected with Skillz at Tuesday Verses: The Open Mic, a long-running series hosted at Addis Ethiopian Restaurant. Her vocals are featured on the record’s song “Wednesday’s Crush.” “To get poets — because for the poetry community, it means a lot because it’s a spoken word album — and for him to bring us on and take all of us with him, it’s such an honor,” Fox says.
Alexander Mack hails from Blackstone and officially moved here in 2021. He served as both a producer and keyboardist for “Words for Days, Vol. 1,” and has been a longtime friend and collaborator with Skillz, who reached out to get him involved in the new project.
“Four or five other musicians and producers and I recorded at Spacebomb, and it was one big jam session,” Mack says. “‘Thursday’s Struggles’ was the first song that we came up with, and that was within the first 15 minutes of even being there. I did the keyboards and the arranging on ‘Wednesday’ on down to ‘Saturday’ [on the album].”
Hip-hop artist, sound engineer and Grammy winner Michael Millions (Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian)
Hip-hop artist Michael Millions served as mastering engineer on the LP and also has a longtime friendship with Skillz. “He trusts me with the music,” says Millions, who describes himself as a record’s last stop before it’s released to the world. “I’ve worked on a lot of music with Skillz and for Skillz over the years, so when he says he did this with his friends and family, he really did.”
“Words for Days, Vol. 1” is available to stream on all major music platforms. As Skillz continues to create, his Grammy triumph is a major career milestone.
“Thirty years in the game, and to get a Grammy — things have been happening the last couple of years, and just when I think it can’t get any better, it does,” Skillz says. “I’m grateful.”
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Richmond Jazz and Music Festival (Photo courtesy Johnson Marketing)
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Daydream Fest (Photo courtesy Peter LeBlanc)
Hear It Here
Upcoming projects and must-see performances
What’s next after a Grammy Award win? Mad Skillz has several ideas in the works: “There are a couple [of] film projects that I want to put into the world this year,” he says, “and I’m currently in the stages of trying to bring a music festival to RVA.” To gauge interest in the festival, he took to Instagram where, as of April, the post had more than 3,000 likes and over 700 comments.
In the meantime, look for him at events around the region. “I’m always a big fan of the Jazz Festival, Juneteenth and special concerts around the city,” he says. “I’m very proud of the creative and musician scenes that Richmond has been able to manifest.”
Alexander Mack plans to release an album this summer as a follow-up to last fall’s single, “Go Off.” He says he’s a fan of Meet Me Here pop-up DJ parties, where locals gather for a night of music and dancing at different locations across the city.
Michael Millions also has a new album ready to drop with his longtime artistic partner, DJ Harrison. The duo has “a whole collection of music that’s about to roll out really soon,” he says. He’s looking forward to the upcoming Ember Music Hall concerts by New Orleans rappers Jay Electronica (May 9) and Curren$y (May 16).
Ant The Symbol will perform at Daydream Fest at Main Line Brewery on May 25, joined by an all-star lineup of Richmond talent. He, too, has a new record in the works; he’s aiming for a fall release. “The Grammy win really lit a fire under me,” he says. “I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
