Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
Ski Mask the Slump God and the deceased XXXTENTACION were close friends, and Ski told Complex that X’s death partially inspired him to try new musical styles on his debut studio album, STOKELEY.
“A big part of what gave me the confidence, which is sad to say, is X passing. He just told me that I had to step up a lot, even just in music in general, because I knew I could do it,” Ski Mask said. “But I just always sold myself short.”
The record features some of the thunderous lo-fi rap that Ski made a name on initially, as well as him branching into a more melodic delivery. “So High” is one of the most striking examples of that, as he sings throughout the entirety of the track.
“‘So High’ is an example of something I was trying to do for a while,” he said. “Basically because I just didn’t know when was the right time or when to approach fans with something that they’re not used to.”
Ski Mask and XXXTENTACION met in a juvenile detention center and quickly became friends and collaborators, forming the Members Only collective in 2014. They collaborated on songs like “Take a Step Back” and “H2O,” and remained close even though Ski made an effort to “distance himself” in order to be viewed as his own artist.
When XXXTENTACION was killed in June, Ski Mask expressed shock on Twitter. He later said that he wanted to plan a charity event to commemorate his friend.
X is mentioned on “Faucet Failure,” when Ski Mask raps:
New grills, 10K, big lisp, uh
Diamonds dancin' on my fist, no disc, uh
Gimme lips, rock band like KISS, uh
Remember days, me and X hittin' licks
Ski also said that part of his pivot to a more accessible and diverse sound came because he felt that much of the underground scene he came up in had been co-opted by the mainstream music world.
“I feel like there is no underground anymore,” he said. “Because a lot of the underground is either being copied by like the mainstream, or is in the mainstream now.”
Ski discussed his last mixtape, BEWARE THE BOOK OF ELI, saying that it was “rushed” and that he was frequently too high while working on it.
“The Book of Eli was ass to me, to be completely honest,” he said. “I didn’t organize anything…I found myself for STOKELEY.”
Genius broke down Ski Mask’s Juice WRLD collaboration “Nuketown” in the episode of Song Stories below.
Read the full lyrics to “So High” and the rest of Ski Mask The Slump God’s on Genius now.
