Skillibeng Speaks On The Method To His ‘Musical Madness’

Crocodile Teeth artist Skillibeng recently addressed a series of topics during a Tim Westwood interview, among them his distinctiveness, the method to what many regard as his ‘musical madness’, building his musical catalogue and Honey Milan’s faux tattoo of his name on her forehead.

Skillibeng first told Westwood, a British DJ and presenter at Captial Radio, that his music was aimed at providing humour for his fans, as depressing and dull content, was not a part of his musical ethos.

“People laugh and enjoy my music.  That’s what I really create music for: happiness.  So that’s what my music gives off mostly.  You never listen to one of my songs and feel sad.  I wouldn’t want to make anyone feel sad from listening to my music. That’s not good to me. I am the happier side of music,” Skilli explained.

“Music is all about lyrical capability and we explain things in, I would say, hilarious ways.  Because Whap Whap is like a belt beating,” he said laughing.

“It’s all about going out a the box and finding stuff that everyone could relate to worldwide. That’s what  I mastered and it’s been working for me.  I keep doing that because it’s working and it’s working on a global note,” he said.

The St. Thomas native also explained that while he was able to write heavy content and spit lyrics on the rapid, he had also sought to slow down and simplify his lyrics, in order to get his overseas audience also, to understand what he is saying, as he did in Crocodile Teeth, for which he says “people have a really special place in their heart”.

“That’s how I do music: so that people can understand.  I slow it down a bit because I am very lyrical.  I am very,  and highly lyrical.  But you know, it doesn’t always work on an international (level),” he explained.

“Even Mr. Universe and stuff, I go hard most of the time, but when it comes on to the business, I had to slow down a bit,” the Hot artist said.

As many people had been speculating, Skilli said that most of his simpler songs such as Crocodile Teeth and Whap Whap, are extemporized in the studio, as opposed to heavier content as in Mr. Universe, which he first put down on paper.

“Most of these songs I just go in the studio and think about and do it.  I don’t even write most of my songs.  Only the very lyrical ones that’s kind of complicated,  the tongue twisters are written by me.  I just go in the studio and do my thing and create magic,” he said.

“That’s how I created, Whap Whap, Brik Pon Brik, Crocodile Teeth.  I just go in the studio.  That’s how I do it,” the 25-year-old stated.

While his other compatriots may focus on their attire and image, just in the same way they do their music, Skilli sees this as secondary in the scheme of things.

“I am not the entire that will focus on my image, focus on everything else other than my music.  My music is the most important thing to me.  It’s a thing where it comes so natural, that it’s magical. It’s unbelievable to people,” he said.

In terms of stage performances, Skilli says he is not perturbed about any criticisms about whether he is able to rock a stage like his elders in Dancehall, as his mantra is to be himself and not compete with, or compare himself with his compatriots.

“When I was just being released as an official artiste it was kind of a struggle.  People sayin I can’t do performances and stuff like that and that was one of the things I always told them, like you not gonna see a Beenie Man or a Bounty Killer or a Sean Paul when I am performing.  You gonna see Skillibeng,” the Not artiste said.

Skillibeng said that the issues raised about whether he had the capabilities to rock an audience, were what made him realise that in order to command a stage, he had to focus on ensuring that he had a “catalogue of music”, an explanation that answers the question posed by many pundits including the Let’s Be Honest Podcast, as to why he was recording so many songs in quick succession last year.

“I started to research on who are the best performers.  The best performers are the ones with the biggest songs.  People know these songs and they don’t even have time to say this is rubbish.    They just have to sing along with it.  So that’s what I studied.   And I took a break and I wasn’t going to any shows and I was just focusing on my music getting that catalogue ready,” the Morant Bay High School old boy said.

“And it’s ready now.  I’ve got such a big catalogue of songs I can’t even perform all of my songs.  And that’s a good feeling,” he added.

As for Honey Milan, with whom he collaborated to voice Chappa Gyal, in responding to Westwood’s question about her so-called tattoo which was gossip-fodder last year, Skilli diplomatically said he was oblivious as to what happened there and then.

“Honey Milan – big up Honey Milan.  Yuh know seh mi nuh too know bout dah tattoo suppm deh.  I wasn’t sure about it. It looks real but I wasn’t a part of the whole plan.  I wasn’t involved. She was doing her own thing.  I don’t know if it was real.  She was working off my wave, enuh,” Skilli said.