Sk8star: Tuning Every Adlib and 808 Just Right—Atlanta's Newest Voice

When Sk8star's in the studio, he's the type of rapper who'll tweak a single adlib or one 808 hit over and over until it's exactly right. That obsession with detail carries his album "Designer Junkie," released this past February, which brought in Atlanta rap vet Richie Souf and the ØWay crew to help craft a project that drifts between psychedelic and trap, with faint echoes of Future, GotIt, and Keed running through it.

Sk8star hails from Macon, which he describes as having "nothing to do but go see my mom." But musically, he's already planted himself firmly in Atlanta trap's core camp, standing as one of the most consistent names on the ØWay roster. His latest 8-track EP "The Beautiful Rebellion" taps Pi'erre Bourne and Jay Trench for production, with his falsetto gliding through the pocket on "Callin'," then switching to a raspy, clipped delivery two tracks later on "Loose Tooth." diamond* and Pz' show up on standout tracks "Siamese" and "Doom" respectively—and honestly, it sounds more like they're chasing Sk8star's rhythm than the other way around.

Just half a year separates "Designer Junkie" from "The Beautiful Rebellion," and Sk8star's flow has clearly leveled up in that span. He's about to open for Lucki's tour, and Pz' just announced the two of them have a collab mixtape in the works.

Asked about his life philosophy in an interview, Sk8star kept it simple: "Stay out of other people's business, live longer." Talking about a recent show, he mentioned catching Future at Summer Smash—"watching him perform songs I grew up on, and just seeing how he worked the whole crowd, that's a real professional." As for what level of fame he's chasing, his answer was Michael Jackson status—"even if it means I probably can't just casually go to the movies anymore."