Skillibeng says he used to be hooked on one particular Alkaline song in the early parts of his dancehall career and credits the Vendetta deejay for his versatility.
Skillibeng has cemented himself in the dancehall space as one of the greats of this generation, but Alkaline’s name is often mentioned when talking about the greats. In an interview at the BET Awards earlier this year, Skilli named Alka among his top 5 lyrical dancehall artists, the other four being himself, Vybz Kartel, Aidonia, and Masicka.
In a new interview with Seani B, the St. Thomas native was asked why he included the “We Up” artist in his top 5 over artists like Popcaan. “In a my younger stages me usually listen to Alkaline,” Skilli said. “I don’t know any of his recent songs but me personally like 12PM… and the thing is he’s not only a lyrical artiste, him versatility up deh to.”
The “Crocodile Teeth” deejay also discusses potential fan backlash for naming Alkaline in his Top 5 artists. “This is my opinion so you can’t expect another person not to have theirs,” he said. “So you have to just relax and let people have a nice time in the comments or in their conversations. Because at the end of the day I didn’t say anybody else wasn’t lyrical in dancehall it was just a list of five and the list of five was the most prominent at the tip of my brain at the time. That’s how the truth comes and who no like it a just so it go.”
“I don’t really care I just want know say me talk the truth because all the artist me talk about in that specific interview actually put in the work,” Skillibeng added in response to critics.
Alkaline released “12 PM” in 2016 and the track has since cracked 18 million views on YouTube, making it a fan favorite over the past decade. Alka has not publicly reacted to Skilli giving him his flowers.
