Skillibeng, Bobby Shmurda Show Each Other Love On Instagram. Collab Coming?
Could new music be on the way from American rapper Bobby Shmurda and young Dancehall star Skillibeng or is the Hot N-gga again showing love for his roots?
In an Instagram Story today, Shmurda is vibing to one of Skillibeng’s latest Trap Dancehall/Hip Hop fusion tracks — 2Gyal released on February 22.
Bobby tagged Skillibeng in the clip, asking the EastSyde prodigy: “bloodcloth ah gwaann.” In the very next Story post, the rapper, who was recently freed after serving six years in a US Federal prison, tells fans that he’s finally dropping new music this month.
Shmurda, whose real name is Ackquille Jean Pollard, has a strong connection to Jamaica as his father hails from the island and he’s known for showing Dancehall love and respect.
He shot into the limelight in 2014 when he released Hot N*gga with its viral Shmoney Dance. The hit was covered in many unofficial remixes by US rappers as well as a Reggae version featuring Junior Reid, Mavado, Popcaan, and Jah X. Even Elephant Man used the move in his track Shmoney Dance with a music video featuring the then 22-year-old rap sensation.
So, he’s no stranger to the power of Dancehall music and clearly has no plans to go back to prison after he joked in February that he’d rather flee to Jamaica and become a Dancehall deejay who bleaches his skin.
Meanwhile, Skillibeng re-posted Bobby’s 2Gyal clip to his Instagram Story, as a show of acknowledgment. While the two could just be showing each other some love it wouldn’t be a stretch for them to work together given their similar styles.
Skillibeng has been on the rise since he released his break-out hit Brik Pan Brik. Some of the bigger names in the genre have endorsed him as the next big thing in Dancehall including Vybz Kartel, Chronixx, Koffee, and Popcaan.
One of his latest tracks, Crocodile Teeth has been getting international recognition with several American artists and celebrities showing their love for the song.
Just last month, March, OVO Boss Drake shouted out Skillibeng and proudly revealed that Crocodile Teeth was getting rotation on OVO Sound Radio’s recently relaunched SOUND 42 Channel on SiriusXM. When Nigerian superstar Burna Boy was relishing his Grammy win for Best Global Album last month, he took to Instagram to belt out lyrics to Crocodile Teeth.
Three years after he started work in music, Skillibeng landed a deal with Sony/ATV and continues to consistently release music with hits and misses in between.
In February he released Coke, which has amassed over 8 million views on YouTube.
That month, the St. Thomas native shared a bit about his approach to making music with Ebro on Hot97.
“At the end of the day how mi deliver mi songs different,” he said. “Mi deliver mi songs with a force and a energy and a emotion towards anything. If it’s good mi have a good vibes, if it’s sad mi execute it that way – the right way, where people can relate to it and feel the music and feel like ‘yeah’ they’ve been through that.”
“That’s the difference with my music, it’s influential, you feel my music.”