Whoever said its hard out here for a pimp never met Sky Balla. As the West Coast spokesman of the Im Not a Rapper Movement, Sky Balla exemplifies the hustle and flow that are absolutely essential in todays rap game. Sitting on a self-made fortune, the young Bay Area boss figured out early on how to make the industry work for him. The guest list for his mixtapes and new album, Every Penny Counts reads like a whos who of A-list MCs like The Game, Fabolous, Scarface, Juelz Santana and E-40. A lot of dudes are mad at me cause they think I bought my way into the game, says the California native. I took penitentiary chances and did what I had to do. It costs to be the boss.
Sky Balla
Whoever said its hard out here for a pimp never met Sky Balla. As the West Coast spokesman of the Im Not a Rapper Movement, Sky Balla exemplifies the hustle and flow that are absolutely essential in todays rap game. Sitting on a self-made fortune, the young Bay Area boss figured out early on how to make the industry work for him. The guest list for his mixtapes and new album, Every Penny Counts reads like a whos who of A-list MCs like The Game, Fabolous, Scarface, Juelz Santana and E-40. A lot of dudes are mad at me cause they think I bought my way into the game, says the California native. I took penitentiary chances and did what I had to do. It costs to be the boss.
The reality of how to succeed in life has never been an issue for Sky Balla. He learned early on as a kid growing up in impoverished Fillmore section of San Francisco, that he needed to tap into all of his God given talents in order to achieve his dream of becoming an MC.
Sky Balla learned how to make valuable connections at a young age. When he was just 16-years-old he joined forces with two other local kids to form a group called Tha Gamblaz. Under the guidance of Yay Area superstars San Quinn and JT the Bigga Figga, Tha Gamblaz debuted on JTs local smash album, Operation Takeover in 1997. Later that year, Master P snatched up Tha Gamblaz for his West Coast Bad Boyz, Pt. II album which went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. After that I knew it was serious, remembers Sky. I really had to stay focused and step my game all the way up. I knew it wasnt just a dream anymore it was becoming reality at a young age. I was 17 on a platinum record.
Riding high off his new found success, in 1998, Sky Balla decided to drop out of high school and split from his teenaged group in order to pursue a solo career. He started to work on his first album but got sidetracked when he realized he could raise even more revenue starting a business revolving around his ladies of luxury. Thats when I was really in the streets pimpin for real, says Sky. I had to switch up the hustle. I was always a fly young dude and never had a problem with the ladies so I figured hey, if these ladies want to go the extra mile for me why not put them in the position to make a lot of money?
Sure enough, pimping paid off and the money started pouring in. Being the business man that he is, the young Balla invested his cash into studio time and promotional materials to promote his first official solo album, Mobb Report. For two straight years, Sky acted as his own executive, publicist and marketing manager. Using his industry contacts he collected as a youngster, Sky set up recording sessions in Miami, New York and San Francisco with Scott Storch, Lil Flip, Keak Da Sneak, Noreaga and a slew of other well known rappers and producers. I only pressed up 2,000 copies of Mobb Report, he says. But that 2,000 copies got me further than a lot of people who sold 100,000 units because the contacts I have now are priceless.
Packed with true-to-life accounts of Sky Ballas everyday hustle, Every Penny Counts showcases the smooth players pop appeal. Well known producers like Shawty Red who produced the majority of Young Jeezys platinum debut and Hi-Tek who tracked Real Nigga perfectly compliment Sky Ballas laid back flow. In content and delivery Sky comes across as confident on track as he does on the street demonstrating a balance that is hard to come by in todays trend driven market. On his first single Big Boy Things (Big Pimp) Sky breaks down his less than humble existence: Before rap, I was moving big caine/Pimpin hard on them hoes for real spittin big game. With an early fall release looming for his Empire City Records/Strictly Bizness debut, Sky Balla isnt going to let up until its payday. I cant wait til the day when I get that real big check where I can tell all the girls Im done, says the young pimp. Daddys done, youre out the game. We finally made it! Pimpin sure is easy.