Hip Hop has seen a flood of new rappers over the past few years. Although few have managed to show staying power — one Gentilly rapper is breaking the mold.
SK David is preparing to release his latest album, California Lifestyle. The highly anticipated project is dropping this October on streaming platforms around the world. In it, David illustrates his life as a rapper in the city of angels. This will be David’s sophomore album, after releasing his first project, GENTRILLY in 2018.
David grew up in New Orleans between the 7th and 8th ward, a place known to locals as Gentilly. During his childhood music in New Orleans had reached new heights thanks to rappers like Master P, Lil Wayne, Lil Boosie, and more. Unfortunately, violence was also at an all-time high. “Back then they were calling New Orleans the murder capital.”
Right as he was starting Middle school, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, and David was forced to leave. Over the next few years, he bounced around different states in the South and on the West coast including Mississippi, California, and Texas. Music became one of SK’s greatest allies during that time, helping him to find both inspiration and escape.
Eventually, those same inspirations and experiences would turn into music of his own. SK’s unique style can be seen through his ability to distort his tone while rapping and singing over tracks. Some of these include his lighter signing voice, his deep speaking voice, and a variety of autotune manipulations.
“The different variations add more life to my music, you can feel it. I first got the idea back in high school. I used to throw parties in New Orleans, they were huge in the city, and to this day people still talk about them. During the parties, I would get up on stage and rap. Even back then I would switch up my flows and my voice depending on the beat.”
After graduation, SK David went to Louisiana State University on a full-ride scholarship. Once there he decided to put both the parties and performances on pause while focusing on his advertising studies. But it wasn’t long before he was applying his newfound knowledge to his musical aspirations.
While in College David founded his current record label, Generation Trill, and launched his very first full-length project GENTRILLY. Each influenced by his Lousiana heritage. GENTRILLY is a play on words to represent where he grew up and Generation Trill — an allegory for a new generation who grew up under circumstances that we’re “too real”.
It’s been a long time coming but after releasing California Lifestyle, SK David will let the industry know that he has definitely arrived.
