In an interesting form of self-promotion, veteran rapper Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz) imitates the annual cyphers from the BET Awards show and creates his own direct-to-web version. This was an attempt to get the attention of Stephen Hill (Executive Vice President of Entertainment and Music Programming for BET) and Debra Lee (President and CEO of BET Holdings, Inc.)
Skillz ends his verse with the line “Shout (to) BET and Debra Lee cause she bossy/ Next time you want some Skillz in your cypher, call me“. Surprisingly, it worked! Though not in the literal form of a phone call, Stephen Hill announced on his Twitter that he was so impressed by the video, it officially earned Skillz a spot in next year’s cypher.
While most known for his annual end of the year “Rap Up” and his “Hip Hop Confessional” series, this BET Cypher invitation certainly helps build his buzz just in time for the release of his fifth album, The World Needs More Skillz, which releases on October 26th.