‘You Can’t Put Skillibeng In A Box’
Jamaican deejay Skillibeng shouldn’t be placed in a box, says RCA Records A&R Tariq Troy Stewart.
“He’s like a unicorn. So, what he does and what he’s doing you don’t really see that. Even though we could consider him Caribbean/Dancehall, I still put him in this rap category with the artists because you don’t necessarily have to have a genre no more. It’s like based on what people like, and he fits in that—especially the Whap record,” Stewart told DancehallMag.
“That was a record where it doesn’t matter where you were at; that was a record that was being played. He’s like a unicorn, it’s like you can’t put him in a box. He could go any range he wants to go whether it’s Drill or Dancehall…whatever it is. Once you give him a beat and he’s catching a vibe from it, he’s gonna go do his thing. He just has something about him: his aura, his presence…just something about him,” he continued.
Skillibeng, 26, who signed to RCA Records last year, will be teaming up with Afrobeats star Wizkid and Jamaican starlet Shenseea on Slip N Slide this Friday.
Stewart said Skilli and WizKid have had great chemistry since they met this year.
“Skilli had a show in LA and Wiz just wanted to pull up ‘cause he’s a fan, and before he went on stage they just like hit it off in the green room; caught a vibe and then they just went to the studio,” Stewart said of their meeting in July, after Skillibeng’s show at the Echoplex theatre in LA.
“That’s how everything literally came about and you know just building that rapport, and building that friendship.”
The two later linked again in July, when WizKid brought out Skilli at the Wireless Festival in Birmingham, UK.
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Skillibeng has been having a ‘whapping’ year after teaming up with other greats like LA-based hitmaker Dijon ‘Mustard’ McFarlane, DJ Khaled, and Fivio Foreign.
Stewart also said that Skilli would be releasing another jaw-dropping collaboration before the year is out. He was, however, tight-lipped about the details.
He added that international stars are always eager to team up with Skilli, not just because they are actual fans, but because of his versatility.
“Normally he has a relationship with them but if it’s something that’s coming from the label side, it’s always a no brainer. It’s always like, ‘yes! Why ask that? What are we doing?’ It’s always that type of factor,” he exclaimed.
“You know, sky’s the limit for Skilli. What I can say is, it’s nothing that he can’t do. But you know (he’s) trying to just be the best and being that guy for his country and just making noise with whatever he does.”
Slip N Slide will not be the first Jamaican collaboration for WizKid.
On his Grammy-nominated fourth studio album, he joined forces with Jamaican singer Projexx and Nigerian singer Tay Iwer on the single True Love, and with Damian Marley on the single Blessed.
He also previously collaborated with Chronixx on Jam in 2019.