Skilf - brand new single, LISTEN NOW!!!

"My name's Skilf that's short for Skilful G you must be under anesthetic if you aint feeling me!" - I started rapping back in 2000 around the same time that Garage was big. Those days were fun, cruising around listening to Pure Silk, spitting at house partys with a 10 pound Argos mic. However as time went on I started getting booked by different promoters: I got a few gigs in London venues such as Aquarium, WKD, Enigma, Rococo and Mint Bar one of which was a warm up set for Asher D. Around that time I worked closely with an established promoter and put on my first event at Shillebears, Islington.
When I moved to Brighton in 2003 everything began to kick off, I adapted my style to drum 'n' bass and linked up with a crew I met at Uni namely DJ Neo, Niterider (now called Unison), Hasty (now called DLM) and MC Bobby B. We started pretty small time, doing sets at the student bar, free outdoor raves, house partys etc. As time went on I began playing out on a larger scale, at many of Brighton's well established venues such as; The Event, Ocean Rooms, The Beach, Zap Club, Enigma, Volks and Concord 2. Supporting as the likes of Andy C, DJ Zinc, Pendulum, Dillinja, Grooverider, Mampi Swift, Nicky Blackmarket, Kenny Ken, DJ Marky, MC Dynamite, IC3 and Foxy to name a few.
I remember one time my brother played me a tune that really changed the way I thought about music. He had just started getting into Bob Dylan, and played me a track called 'The Changing Of The Guards'. The lyrics of that song really struck a chord with me, I just sat there in my own world, taking every word in. It made me realize the potential of word play and how deep the English language can be. More importantly it had a big impact on my own writing.
At this point I started writing to hip hop and moving away from all the craziness of Drum 'n' Bass. Slowing the words down allowed me to express myself in different ways, and in a more coherent style. I started experimenting by writing things that reflected the way I was feeling at the time; some of it was funny, some of it was melancholy, some of it was twisted! I begun recording my earliest tracks with DJ Subzero, Dom and Crookedman, they were pretty raw and unpolished. I put out my first 12" in 2005 the '9 Months EP,' and this seemed to be one of the main catalysts for everything that followed...
I became a resident at Blaze which was at the time, Brighton's biggest hip hop night. I was performing on the same bills as Ghostface Killah, Tim Westwood, Task Force, Killer Keller, Spit Kingdom, Phi Life Cypher, Harry Love etc. During this time I was churning out tune after tune and getting airplay on Itch FM, HHB, Freeze FM and many other radio stations. I joined a crew called 'The Connection' (with Downlow, Gwilo and Baraka) ans started recording tracks and doing shows, plus I held down a residency at Dub Pressure (a monthly Dubstep night) playing alongside Unlikely and Kion.
A few months ago my debut album 'Origianl Visions' was released, it received some pretty special reviews from various publications (see 'Original Visions' flyer) and a lot of airplay. I had a summer tour to promote the release alongside my new band, Astro Physics. The band consists of Deep Blak (MC), Steve Rainbow (bass), Kai Smith (guitar), Will Gardner (sax) and Martin Deering (drums). The tour included performances at Café De Paris, The Hope and Anchor, Joogleberry Playhouse, The Grassroots festival in Hull, The Contact Theatre in Manchester and a support slot for Pendulum at Coventry University. We're currently working on our first release which will be out in the next few months.
Music Videos
Below is the music video for 'It's Skilf' directed by Lewis Rose, which was filmed at Sussex University and various other locations around Brighton. The shooting took place during my graduation period and portrays some happy student times, the highlights for me were smashing the guitar, slapping beans in Bilal's face and standing on the roof with security guards telling me to get down! Check it out...
Below is the video for my first ever single; Nine Months, depicting my journey through the four elements, it's a surreal narrative that reflects the concept behind the song - as people we are all searching for something, throughout the smallest every day events to our innermost desires and lifetime goals. It was filmed in different locations around Sussex and London, shout out to the various graffiti artists who's work features in the video, hope you don't mind us using it! Much respect once again to Lewis for his dedication and artistic skills.
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