A guide to skaiwater’s best songs

A highlight from skaiwater’s early era signed to Good Talk, when their sound was more obviously Atlanta influenced.

The single that helped skai get a “new bag” and jump to major label partnerships, first with Geffen, then with Capitol. It’s a Jersey club song that reminds me of the playful, dreamy melodies of Tobi Lou and Meltycanon, but skaiwater spends a freakishly long time edging the drop. It would eventually be remixed by Lil Uzi Vert, and remains skaiwater’s most commercially successful song to date.

skaiwater told me this song from #rave that appeared on 4ersona’s 2023 joint tape was the start of their brainrot 808s era, building on the dance-minded foundation established by their previous self-production. 4ersona members included Che, Rich Amiri, Heygwuapo, prettifun, and more, though skaiwater says they weren’t particularly close with the group, who mostly knew each other through the Internet — “auto” was a loosie submission, not the product of joint sessions.

Among the technicolor emotions on skaiwater’s self-described “R&B album” #gigi, the deep blue heartache of “rain” stands out for its vivid, shimmering tones, like staring at a still-wet Rothko. skaiwater sounds like Carti and Uzi and Lil Nas X all in one; the bass sounds like their heart bursting and imploding in slow-motion.

skaiwater has known Lil Nas X since before “Old Town Road,” but the pair hadn’t really worked on music together prior to this collab. In our interview, skaiwater gave Lil Nas X serious props, not just for breaking down barriers in hiphop, but for being a personal friend skai can trust for guidance.

The song that convinced me #gigi was the best album of 2024. I love “bleach” and “choke” and “heavy metal,” but the underbelly of “run” is so unbelievably soft, somewhere between the Jackson 5 and Big Freedia. “Won’t you come outside where it’s bright? Have the time of your life?”

This collab with fellow Brit RADA is the obvious standout from #manicinamerica, skaiwater’s second and final release on Capitol Records. Rib-shaking percussion flutters across a dreamy fantasia, skaiwater’s headvoice and RADA’s ephemeral harmonies blending blissfully before a wicked gabber drop that’s over way too soon.

Though this loosie was published to skaiwater’s second SoundCloud account (what’s the musical version of a finsta?) it feels key to understanding their current era as an independent artist, from their abrasive

“These new n***as moving like Diddy!” skaiwater yelped on stream with plaqueboymax in December. Their clipfarming appearance with Tezzus and Ti Steele included shots at ian, fakemink, and most crucially, YSL-signee Nine Vicious, both for being a self-professed groomer and queerbaiting as a homophobic cishet man.

The K-pop crossover no one could have predicted. This pro-acceptance anthem is ridiculously cute because it’s painfully earnest — I still don’t quite understand what i-dle meant by, “love is louder in mono,” but they’ve got the spirit!

skaiwater opened both of their Chicago shows with this strobing, heavenly album cut. They told me every time they listen to the album, “SKINS” is the one song that makes them cry, though they’ve never watched the Channel 4 TV drama it’s titled after — instead, skaiwater chose the title because the song gave them the vibe of “cold English streets” and felt the show reflected that energy. On the track, skai alludes to label calls with Lil Uzi Vert’s 1600 and Young Thug’s YSL, namedrops intended not as flexes, but a commentary on the exploitative nature of the music industry.

I love that this song, the outro to Disc 1 of wonderful, seems to sample “as above so below,” the album intro. It’s also totally batshit, exploding out of the gate with intense bass and adlibs courtesy of Baby Osama. But in the chaos, there’s rhythm, structure, a truly incredible beat that makes me feel like a hyperactive child.

If this isn’t skaiwater’s best song it’s hard to pin down what else even comes close. No holds barred, all feelings bared, using every vocal and production trick they can in less than 140 seconds. skaiwater told me wonderful was recorded in the aftermath of a mutually-needed breakup with their girlfriend of three years, who served as the muse for their past albums. wonderful offers listeners a glimpse at skai’s stream of consciousness, but “MY ZOMBIE” is the rawest of all. I need to hear this live so bad.

In the weeks after our interview, skaiwater would begin teasing songs from a deluxe edition of wonderful, which seems to have morphed into a full-fledged followup album. Those snippets are frequently posted (and archived, and unarchived) on their second finsta @gghettoprincesss (not to be confused with their first finsta @azothisn). I’ve been stuck on this one in particular, where skai references 6ix9ine’s outlandish come up and expeditious downfall in the music industry.