Skilla Baby’s raps—powered by careful wisdom, hard-won perspective, and endless charisma—almost feel effortless. The combination of his searching growl, world-weary rhymes, and impeccable beat selection has catapulted him to the top of Detroit’s ever-competitive rap scene. The rising star currently has more than 57 million US streams, and his YouTube channel has a combined 42 million views. He sounds like a rapper who has been doing this his entire life. But to hear Skilla explain it, rap almost accidentally happened to him. “Where I’m from, everyone raps, but since everyone does it, it’s not that special,” he says. The teenage Skilla had no reason to believe his freestyles were any better than those of his peers. He was simply killing time until his next football practice or shootaround practice for basketball. But as he began to book studio time and release projects like 2019’s Push That Shit Out Skilla and 2021’s Standing on Business, it became abundantly clear that no one could rap the way Skilla Baby does.

Take the first track from his celebrated new EP, We Eat the Most, out last year via Geffen Records. On “Tay B Style,” an homage to local legend Tay B, Skilla spits over a menacing piano line and banging drums, in line with fellow Detroit wordsmiths like Bandgang Lonnie Bands and Cash Kidd. Skilla sets the scene with an unflinching eye and a willingness to spell out life in the streets with the seriousness such a world deserves: “Firebomb the weed house, can’t get no more weed out/ I’ll knock your teeth out your mouth and make you bleed out/ When I see a n***a I don’t like, shit get violent/ ’Cause I grew up fightin’, hearin' police sirеns.” Immediately, listeners are fully immersed in Skilla Baby’s Detroit.

When listening to We Eat The Most, it’s rather shocking to learn that Skilla Baby is introverted by nature. “I’m actually very shy,” he admits. “I really keep to myself as a person, but with music, it works in a different way. The more success I get, the more I’m willing to open up.” Perhaps because Skilla has skyrocketed to fame in his hometown he never really had a chance to keep to himself. Or maybe he’s grown more willing to share his story as people have grown more eager to hear it. Regardless, rap fans in Motor City and across the country are fortunate that he’s more comfortable than ever about putting his life on tape. “I was shy when it came to talking and meeting new people, but I wasn’t shy when it came to my talent. I always knew I could do whatever I wanted. That was instilled in me by my father,” Skilla explains.

When listening to We Eat The Most, it’s rather shocking to learn that Skilla Baby is introverted by nature. “I’m actually very shy,” he admits. “I really keep to myself as a person, but with music, it works in a different way. The more success I get, the more I’m willing to open up.” Perhaps because Skilla has skyrocketed to fame in his hometown he never really had a chance to keep to himself. Or maybe he’s grown more willing to share his story as people have grown more eager to hear it. Regardless, rap fans in Motor City and across the country are fortunate that he’s more comfortable than ever about putting his life on tape. “I was shy when it came to talking and meeting new people, but I wasn’t shy when it came to my talent. I always knew I could do whatever I wanted. That was instilled in me by my father,” Skilla explains.

The other figures who have played a huge role in Skilla Baby’s development are his manager, East Side Juan, and his mentor, Detroit MC Sada Baby. With his crew, he’s found a familial camaraderie that keeps him levelheaded. “We’re all team players. When Sada goes crazy, we all support him and Juan focuses on him,” Skilla explains. When Skilla is gearing up for a big run, the energy focuses toward him. It’s a remarkably democratic process that insists stars check their egos at the door: “Because we’re so family-oriented, it was easy to come together and deal with some success.”

Learning how to deal with that success can often be a massive hurdle in rap, but Skilla Baby is uniquely equipped to outwit the trappings of superstardom. “My dad put me in sports growing up so I could have that discipline and that sense of team,” he says. “I wasn’t really the kid that could go mess around and be doing stuff. I feel like that helped me get to where I am today.”

Since dropping “We Eat The Most” Skilla has released a video for Icky Vicky which hit 1 million views in 1 week, and now stands at 2.5 million views. He’s also did a tour of the south performing at Morehouse College, went viral for Duck Your Taco shoutout from G. Herbo, Lil Baby brought Skilla out during Superbowl to perform his record “Tay B Style,” and he popped up in LA to join Shordie Shordie’s Rolling Loud Set. Most recently he dropped his first single OK BET on 4/7, and released a joint project “Controversy” with Tee Grizzley on 4.28 ahead of WE EAT THE MOST Deluxe out in June. Recently Skilla’s had two major collab singles go viral “Gorgeous” with Tee Grizzely ft City Girls and “MAMA” with Rob49 and Tay B which has hit 3+ Million views and is now top 40 nationwide at Urban Radio. In the fall he launched his first inaugural Skilla Day with performances from G Herbo, Luh Tyler, Tee Grizzley, Lakeyah and more, the event will also be hosted by Dreamdoll, ahead of releasing. The rising star’s YouTube channel has a combined 111M views across all videos, 1.5 Million monthly listening on Spotify, and currently has over 180M US streams. Recently he was given a shoutout in Jack Harlow’s latest single and was featured on Ok Bet pt 2 with Luh Tyler. Check out his recent profile on XXL’s The Break here.