VIDEO ::: Skyy-i ‘The Gem-In-I’

When I met Skyy-i a few weeks ago he told me he wanted to bring back that old school/90′s hip-hop vibe – hands down he has. He handed me his latest mixtape ‘The Gem-In-I’ and it’s a 20 track CD that packs a bloody punch.

Now I was going to review this mixtape but then I thought it better to tease you with ‘Kat Stacks’, a contagious track that transported me to Brooklyn – don’t ask. I just feel like that’s where I should be when I listen to Skyy-i and maybe that’s why I can’t quite put my finger on this artist, all I can say is that he’s got talent (is it just me but did I sound like Simon Cowell a second ago?) and he’s delivering the chilled hip-hop that I expected of him.

He’s definitely sprung when he calls the girl on the track his “ghetto princess, bad bitch”, yeah he calls her Kat Stacks. The riffs in this track are therapeutic which softens the lyrics.

“Got these n***** going crazy!/Back like an African/You f****** wit the dapper don.” Well Skyy- i did warn us on the front of his ‘The Gem-In-I’ mixtape that there was some explicit content but what’s a few swear words between friends?

If you liked ‘Kat Stacks’ you’d  be a donut not to check Skyy-i and his Crook Street Gang family out. The mixtape ‘The Gem-In-I’ is available to download here: www.datpiff.com/Skyy-i-The-Gem-In-I-mixtape.377754.html and it features ‘In My Own World’, ‘Tic Tic Boom,’ ‘Married To The Game’ and one of my favourites from the mixtape ’Hands On The Wheel’, which might sound familiar as it was sampled by A$AP ROCKY.

‘Married To The Game’ is quite sensuous with its delicate piano, but the message isn’t quite as sensual as a heartbroken girl singing she “never say goodbye, never understood what happened”. Well isn’t it obvious luv? he’s married to the game called music.

What I love about this E.P is that although it’s 100 per cent hip hop, Skyy-i has successfully got hard beats, sexy beats and slow ones. There’s one for every story and I thought the album was far from ‘Ordinary’, which is another banger. I don’t think there’s anyone else in the UK industry like Skyy-I, so take him and his music into your arms and embrace them.

Facebook ::: https://www.facebook.com/#!/sky.iigh
YouTube ::: http://www.youtube.com/user/crookstreet
Twitter ::: @skyyy_i

Written by ::: Vanessa Carby
Twitter ::: @Oi_CARBY