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OH YES VIRGINIA WINS GRAMMY GOLD! Virginia won big at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards Grammys last night in Los Angeles. MAD SKILLZ, PUSHA-T, STEPHANIE LASK, SHABOOZEY, MICHAEL MILLIONS, BEE BOISSEAU III, MALICE and PHARRELL WILLIAMS all had something to celebrate last night. Another Virginian, Roberta Flack, was honored by Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean of The Fugees. Virginia Beach’s Pharrell Williams was awarded the Dr. Dre Global Impact award.
MAD SKILLZ. Richmond Hip-Hop legend Mad Skillz (real name: Donnie Lewis) won his first Grammy last night for Words For Days Vol. 1 in the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album category. In 2025, Mad Skillz was nominated for a 2025 Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for his album The Seven Number Ones.
His breakout debut album From Where??? (1996) referred to his early years growing up in Richmond. In 2018 and 2020 Mad Skillz was an artist-in-residence at the University of Richmond teaching a class called The Voice of Hip Hop in America.
“This is for the 804, this is for Virginia, this is for Richmond,” said producer Bee Boisseau from the Grammy stage last night. Norfolk State graduate and spoken word veteran Stephanie Lask, who was also part of Mad Skillz’s Grammy-winning project, also took the stage to proclaim “thank you Skillz! This is for fucking Virginia!”
The moment was also a big win for Norfolk State University as several of the producers on Words For Days Vol. 1 are graduates of the 90-year-old HBCU.
Several producers and artists from Richmond played a part in Mad Skillz album — and all are celebrating the moment as a major achievement for Hip-Hop from Virginia.
SHABOOZEY WINS GRAMMY, PAYS TRIBUTE TO IMMIGRANTS. Shaboozey won his first Grammy Award last night for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Jelly Roll for their song “Amen”.
“Immigrants built this country, literally. So, this is for them, for all children of immigrants… Thank you for bringing your culture, your music, your stories, and your traditions here. You give America color,” Shaboozey (real name: Collins Chibueze). Shaboozey’s parents are from Nigeria where his father was a farmer.
Shaboozey was born in Woodbridge, Virginia and graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School. He enjoyed massive success with his 2024 album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going (2024). A single from the album, A Bar Song (Tipsy), spent nineteen weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
TRIBUTE TO ROBERTA FLACK. Last night Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean honored Roberta Flack who passed away on February 24, 2025 at the age of 88. Roberta Flack was the daughter of a jazz pianist who also worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Her family moved to Richmond, Virginia and then to Arlington, when she was five years old.
Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, who started the group The Fugees with Pras Michel in 1992, paid tribute to Flack and sang her Grammy winning hit song, Killing Me Softly with His Song. In 1973, the song became a number-one hit in the U.S., Australia and Canada. In 1996, The Fugees recorded the song and their version became a number-one hit in twenty countries. Flack won a Grammy in 1974 Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The version of Killing Me Softly by Fugees won the 1997 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
