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Play-N-Skillz has heard all the hype. The same hype that has the Dallas rap duo being praised as one
of the hottest up-and-coming production Play N Skillz teams in the hip-hop game. Hype that has made brothers
Juan "Play" Salinas and Oscar "Skillz" Salinas much sought after producers from submitting tracks to heavyweight rap icon
50 Cents to collaborating with platinum Texas cohort Lil' Flip. With their debut release The Process, on Universal/Motown
Records the southwestern-based tandem adds to the lineage of Texas street-rap royalty that includes Scarface, The D.O.C.,
UGK, and the late DJ Screw.
What is special about Play-N-Skillz is their unique background. Raised in a South American
family, the two brothers grew up in a predominantly African-American neighborhood of Irving, Texas aka.Crooked I. "Our family
came to this country not knowing how to speak English," recalls a proud Play. "We had our struggles in the neighborhood, but
mostly, people gave us love. With the support of their mother, the brother's love of rap inspired Play to become a DJ. After
garnering a name for himself at local Dallas clubs around town, it was only a matter of time before DJ Play's younger brother
would take on the turntables. "He had no other choice but to let me roll," Skillz laughs. "But we eventually got tired of
the records we were playing as DJ's and decided to start creating our own stuff." After creating, a makeshift recording studio
in their mother's cramped two-bedroom apartment, Play ditched his college plans and rented out a space with his brother with
plans to build a professional studio and soon Prime Time Productions was born.
By the summer of 2003, Play-N-Skillz
had become local fixtures on the Texas underground rap scene, prompting Lil' Flip to make a visit to the duo's Dallas recording
studio. Impressed by the versatility of their street-inflected beats, Flip asked them to produce several tracks on the now
platinum-plus You Gotta Feel Me, including "I Came To Bring The Pain," featuring Ludacris and the mix tape and club favorite
"Bounce." An alliance between the two parties eventually developed. "When Flip stepped into the booth with us, it was magical,"
describes Play. Except for The D.O.C. and Erykah Badu, we don't have too much popping on the music side in Dallas," say Play.
"All the music was coming out of other areas in Texas, we bridged the gap," continues Play, now even artists outside of Texas
area are getting at us." So what does that say? Can't nobody front on Dallas or Play-N-Skillz," adds Skillz.
Such bravado
may sound overly cocky coming from a pair of baby-faced brothers who have only been in the rap scene for two years. However,
for Play, 24 and Skillz, 22, The Process simply backs up their swagger, displaying the duo's versatile skills as both producers
and rappers. On the creeping first single "Freaks," Play-N-Skillz recruits Krayzie Bone and the seductive vocals of the original
freak herself Adina Howard. While, the infectious "Now," featuring Lil Flip, brazenly finds the duo detailing coming up in
the streets. While, on the sly come-on "Call Me," featuring up-and-coming Texas rapper Chamilionaire, the brothers show the
women some thug-love over a mid-tempo groove. For Play-N-Skillz, injecting a realistic approach to their music has always
been a priority. "Lyrically, every song came from everyday life situations," Skillz says.
"The people that survive
in the business really don't have a formula," Play says. "Dr. Dre can make a beat for Busta Rhymes and then switch to a Mary
J. Blige. That is why he is a legend. And that's the path we are looking at." With the release of The Process, it is simply
time for these Dallas native sons to show and prove, and it is a challenge they are both ready to take on. | | | | |
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