Okayplayer Exclusive: For Skilla Baby, Chasing Success Was Harder Than Throwing it All Away

Home is usually where the heart is, but for Skilla Baby, born Trevon Gardner, that phrase gained a new meaning last year. On May 25, 2025, Skilla dominated headlines. But not because of his charismatic spirit, his hit records, or the faith he uses to cover himself and others. His life seemingly flashed before his eyes after his SUV was targeted with nearly two dozen bullets, leaving him with injuries and graze wounds.

But a moment that could have pulled him in an entirely different direction instead pushed him closer to his faith, and even closer to his purpose. Now, the window that was once slightly ajar is fully open, giving listeners a better look at his life, trauma and healing. It’s a level of vulnerability that doesn't always come comfortably, but one Skilla is learning to embrace.

That openness is the foundation of his debut album, Price of Fame, out today, August 21. The Detroit rapper’s first effort since the shooting, the project features Nas, Bryson Tiller, Erica Campbell and more, while skits referencing the shooting force Skilla to confront his PTSD head-on. The album is thematic; its accompanying visuals are equally cinematic, and despite sitting with it for nearly a year, Skilla admits he wasn't initially interested in releasing something so vulnerable.

But this is what he calls his “season of obedience.”

That includes the music and the stories he tells beneath the bass-heavy and R&B-influenced beats. Before the shooting, Skilla says his manager, D-Juan Wiggins, also known as Eastside Juan, spent roughly two months asking when he planned to release new music. Skilla’s answer remained the same: when God told him to. Then, shortly after, Skilla was shot. And as he healed, his creativity began to flow.

Faith became part of the album in other ways, too. Warren Campbell, husband of Mary Mary singer Erica Campbell and someone Skilla considers a close friend, opens Price of Fame with a prayer. In one of their conversations, Skilla was candid with Campbell about some of the “evil” things he wanted to do. Campbell offered him a distinction that stuck: there’s what’s right, and there’s what’s wise.

That conflict — between what Skilla may want to do and what he knows he should do — has become bigger than music, informing his everyday life and the decisions he makes.

At 27, that includes thinking more intentionally about the kind of man he wants to be, rather than acquiescing and accepting the person his circumstances may have shaped him into. But knowing who he wants to be doesn’t mean choosing that person always comes easily. Pride and instinct can still pull in one direction, while restraint requires him to move in another.

“I could crash out and throw my life away,” he says. “But it was way harder for me to chase success.”

And for Skilla, that is the harder path: being obedient, trusting the process, becoming a leader and continuing to work toward something bigger when a kneejerk reaction would be much easier.

There’s still plenty left to do on his lengthy career to-do list. Acting is an active part of his plan. There are artists he dreams of working with, Grammys to obtain and a headlining tour to curate. And, by his own admission, he doesn't believe he has a ceiling.

In his latest interview with Okayplayer, Skilla Baby opens up about his new album, Price of Fame, his relationship with God, his musical influences and what he’s learning about the person he wants to become.

Watch the full interview above.