Not everyone who dropped a song that became a hip hop classic went on to have a successful career in the music business. Today we’re going to go back to 1995 to remember a West Coast classic from a one hit wonder named Skee Lo. And since he really only had one hit, I shouldn’t even have to tell you the name of the track.
But for all of you young bucks out there who might not have any clue what I’m talking about, that song was “I Wish.â€
Shortly after the 5-foot-4 rapper performed “I Wish†for the first time at the legendary L.A. hip hop club Good Life, the song hit MTV and radio and was an instant hit. He dropped two more singles from his debut album (which was also titled I Wish, but neither song caught on.
One of the things that made the song so unique was the fact that Skee-Lo was able to air out his insecurities and even make fun of himself a bit, which was a breath of fresh air in the ego-driven world of modern rap. 1995 was the beginning of an era where pretty much all of the shit that was coming out of Cali was on a gangster tip, and here was someone who was displayed a style that was closer to that of Pharcyde or somebody from Hiero. And although he switched up the format a little and did something that was really atypical of hip hop in that era (and still is), he was able to do it without turning it into a gimmick; some might even argue that “I Wish†was a pretty spot-on example of some of the original fundamental principles of hip hop culture, with the most obvious being that it was actually fun.
The beat was decent, the lyrics were cool, and at the time, the Forrest Gump-inspired video was actually pretty funny. Bottom line is, dude made a fun, honest, intelligent song that wasn’t hella emo, and even if people couldn’t relate to it, they could appreciate it. Although a good portion of classic hip hop joints that we remember from back in the day
In 2000, Skee-Lo dropped his follow-up album, I Can’t Stop. The album went double-wood, and we haven’t really heard from him since, but at least he managed to carve out a spot for himself in the hip hop history books with one pretty dope song before he disappeared.
