Lil Billy

Lil Billy

- Sierra Holmes Benford, Le’Deana Brown

Lil Billy, Skill Skill, Mr. Yes, Yes…how did you come to go by so many names?

Lil Billy is my actual name. Skill Skill is the name my neighborhood calls me…I’ve got the skills to pay the bills. They call me Mr. Yes, Yes because they never tell me no, referring to the ladies. When I first started I was going to make my music for the ladies because that’s who I prefer to entertain.

Do you feel like art imitates life or life imitates art with your music?

Everything I rap about I go through. Everything is true to me. I’m not one of those type of guys that will tell another person’s story. All my music is exactly how I live. 100 percent authentic.

Speaking of 100, you recently dropped a video for a song with that title along with a mixtape on My Mixtapez. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Crown Hill Section is the name of the mixtape that I just dropped on MyMixtapez and it has gotten over 70k plays in the short amount of time it’s been on there so far. The physical release is taking place October 31st at my free concert which is also the release for my Midwest Leak Magazine cover story. The song “100” is about keeping it 100 and telling the absolute truth. This project is organic. It’s all the thoughts that go through my head on a daily basis. People are loving it and I’m not sure if it’s more because they love the way it sounds or that it’s so authentic to the real me.

In the hook on “100” there’s a line where you say your teacher said you wouldn’t amount to anything. What was the classroom situation that led a teacher to say something like that?