For all the roundups, galleries and essays that we've run here on The Root, it's never really officially the end of the year until I hear Skillz' year-end wrap-up. Skillz, a rapper from Virginia who has released these wrap-ups since 2002, is also a ghostwriter for several rappers.
At one point during all the media hoopla surrounding Chris Brown v. Rihanna, Balloon Boy mania, Tiger Woods' drama and Michael Jackson's untimely death, I eventually thought, "Hmm, what's Skillz going to say 'bout this?"
I started following Skillz on Twitter just after Thanksgiving, so that I'd be one of the first to know when he dropped his much anticipated roundup of the year's craziest events in pop and politics. Listen to it here.
10 LINES FROM SKILLZ' 2009 WRAP-UP
D.C. starts off the conversation cause we was in your town for the inauguration.
The industry got to get it in gear/It's bad when a mixtape is really the album of the year.
We all took to this new thing called Twitter … And if ya wanna, you can follow me at skillzva.
Bernie Madoff, he was playing for keeps. Amber Rose became famous without having to speak.
Chris Brown, now that's my guy/But how he do an interview and all y'all notice is his bowtie?
Mike was huge/The news shut the Internet down.
As far as R&B goes, Trey Songz is the guy/And I'mma grown man, but I'm scared of Lady Gaga.
But the idiot of the year is Tiger Woods. Can you say fail? Who else is named Tiger? Why would you leave your name on the voicemail?
I can't watch Mo'Nique's show cause she yell too much.
It was a very sad year, to say the least. So to everybody we lost, rest in peace. Ya boy skillz, and I did it again, welcoming y'all to 2010.
And here's my charge to Skillz: Make a decade wrap-up. No rush.