Skillibeng To Drop New Album In June
Whap Whap artist Skillibeng is set to release his sophomore album in June, which will consist of “big features,” according to senior vice-president of A&R at RCA Records, Richard ‘Skane Dolla’ Ford.
“Skilli’s album will be coming in June and, while I don’t want to give any secrets away, I can say he has some really big features and I know people will be surprised by his artistic range. It’s gonna be humongous; we have producers from the UK, US and, obviously, from Jamaica,” Ford told The Gleaner in an interview.
The music executive said that after listening to unreleased music during a studio session with Skilli, the label thought it critical to not only sign him, but to commence work on the new album.
“I knew we needed to get the business done ASAP … he is bringing a new style to the dancehall scene that we never heard before. As far as our reasons for looking into a younger act within the Jamaican genre, it was simple. Children relate to them, and they bring a new sound that may not be the norm but that is palatable,” he said.
Skillibeng, 25, released his debut album titled Crocodile Teeth The Album in October 2021, and at the time, he had predicted that it would be “one of [the] biggest in history”.
Crocodile Teeth The Album had featured 12 tracks, with features alongside American rappers Bobby Shmurda, Rich the Kid, and Lil Zack along with English rapper Stefflon Don, as well as Popcaan, Spice, and Davianah, the daughter of Reggae singer Tony Rebel.
However, the album had failed to debut on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in its first week when it moved just 627 units from sales and streaming in the US. That included 123 copies in pure album sales, according to MRC Data (now Luminate).
Earlier this month, Skane Dolla had told Billboard that he was familiar with Skillibeng prior to meeting him in Jamaica, but once they met, he knew that the St. Thomas native was “a must-sign” for RCA.
“Working with Skillibeng in the studio and observing his musical range, alongside his other A&R’s (Karl and Tariq), confirmed his potential to be a global star. His talent, style, and sound are unique and dynamic, and I’m excited to collaborate with Skilli on this next phase of his career,” Skane had explained.
Skillibeng, whose given name is Emwah Warmington, began engaging in the performance arts, whilst a teenager, and was a member of a dance group while a student at the Morant Bay High School in St Thomas. After passing seven CSEC subjects, he spent one year in sixth form at Seaforth High School, in the parish, before quitting to pursue music, debuting in 2015 with the track titled Brain Parts.
Several years after, he got his big break with the hit song Brik Pan Brik in 2019, which was produced by East Syde Records.
Skillibeng later followed up with other popular tracks, among them Mr. Universe and Torpedo.
He also collaborated with Vybz Kartel for Bad Gyal, which featured on the Worl’ Boss’ 2020 album Of Dons & Divas.
Skilli’s biggest hit so far has been his original Crocodile Teeth, which was considered a diss track aimed at his compatriot, Intence.
Crocodile Teeth was among three songs Minaj had remixed and placed on her new mixtape, a re-release of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. In terms of chart performance, the remix spent just one week on Billboard’s Global 200 charts, peaking at No. 182 and debuted at No. 100 on the Billboard Hot 100.