UK musician Skaiwater’s studio album ‘#gigi’ is a breath of fresh air in the modern “Underground” music scene.
I first came in contact with Skaiwater’s music in 2022. Their song ‘#miles’ went viral on TikTok with a dance and all. The song itself gained so much traction, they released a remix with American rapper Lil Uzi Vert in October of that same year.
The song’s hype eventually died down. Skaiwater went on to release their major-label debut album ‘rave’ in November 2022. I personally did not tune into the record, therefore I stopped checking for them. A year and a half later, Skaiwater reeled in millions with a new single titled ‘rain’. Their clips posted to TikTok began to go viral and the sound trended for multiple months. This, however, isn’t the song that brought me in.
One random summer day, as I scrolled through TikTok, I stumbled upon a clip of Lil Nas X’s rapping on a 9lives beat. This caught me by surprise initially because I hadn’t heard anything from Lil Nas X in about 2 years. Following the global hit ‘INDUSTRY BABY,’ I hadn’t checked in with his music. I had seen controversy, here and there, but nothing about the music.
That being said, this clip caught me off guard. After reading some comments, I learned that it was posted on Skiawater’s TikTok page. It was the second single for their upcoming album.
3 weeks later, on June 14th, Skaiwater released #gigi.
#gigi is 13-tracks long and contains the freshest sounds in the Underground. Songs like ‘rain’ and ‘light’ barely scratch the surface to the greatness of this project.
Skaiwater has a unique approach to rap. On tracks like ‘real feel’ and ‘princess,’ they fuse these melodic, pop ballad harmonies with abrasive, distorted 808s and high-pitched bars. This style was the most commercially successful and got the most attention following the LP’s release. I enjoyed these tracks a lot. The juxtaposition of the varying sounds created when Skaiwater mashes them together creates a seamless audio experience. It has its way of speaking to multiple worlds of contemporary music.
The same could be said for ‘wna torture me tn?’ featuring American rapper KARRAHBOOO. When I first went through this record, I did not like this song at all. I enjoyed the instrumental, it reminded me of The Alchemist and Madlib styles of production. But I found the song pretty average and a bit unlistenable with Karrah’s verse. Her rapping was lazy and uninteresting.
What I truly enjoyed was how aware and respectful that Skaiwater is in this work. Bending and accelerating genres while simultaneously paying homage and giving references to icons and cultures alike. On the 5th track ‘choke’, the percussion references ballroom culture, an African-American and Latino underground LGTBQ+ subculture. LGBTQ+ rappers Cortisa Star and CARTERTHEBANDIT deliver bodacious verses. I’ve come back to this track a lot. It’s such a good song. Drenched in replay value, the song’s instrumental has a slick guitar solo in the second half that truly takes it there as a record. Such radio hit potential.
I share the same sentiment for ‘richest girl alive.’ This song was my #1 favorite every single listen. This song is perfect. The romance lyrics delivered by sleek autotune over a brash, Brazilian phonk influenced beat produced by multi-platinum producer Ambezza. I loved the bounce of this song. It has such a vibe. Perhaps the most left-field sounding song off of this album.
‘Box’ had a sound that reminded me of Skaiwater’s breakout single ‘#miles’. Here, Skaiwater distorts and drags out the Jersey club sound to make a hard-hitting banger. Songs like these that get completely overlooked are always saddening. This track should get as much attention as Lil Uzi Vert’s ‘Just Wanna Rock.’ I enjoyed this song a lot. It’s such a fun song to listen to to get pumped.
Thematically, Skaiwater consistently expressed desperate professions of love and yearning. Songs like ‘heavy metal’ and ‘shut up and drive’ are start-to-finish ballads that poetically narrate their desire to run off with the person you love and leave everything behind.
Overall, the album was existential and bold. I really enjoyed this on a sonic level from start-to-finish. This is a great listen for anybody looking to try something new. Skaiwater demonstrates a genuine promise in their songwriting and production skills. I am excited for their future works.
The artwork for the record was painted by British-Nigerian designer Olaolu Slawn. Skaiwater recently released the physical vinyl of #gigi, and is releasing a new album titled ‘#mia’ on Valentine’s Day.