Skitz Santino
Also Known As: DJ Smooth Blu, KingSkitz
Genre: Various
Occupation: Entrepreneur, Rapper, Record Producer, Music Executive, Arranger, Composer, Songwriter, Actor, Fashion Designer, Film Director, Film Producer and Writer.
Years Active: 2012-present
Label: VDL Records 2013 - 2014
Written and interviewed by James Taylor
Born and raised in parts of West and South West London, he started rapping at the age of 5. “Whenever my uncle came to my house, he always brought these CD’s; from Nas’s debut album illmatic to Ready to Die from Notorious B.I.G. My first favourite song when I was little was, Nuthin' But a "G" Thang by Dr. Dre & Snoop doggy Dogg. When I saw that on TV, I was like WOW! This is what I really wanted to do. When I was 7, I got my first keyboard and started playing the Piano; it was an interesting instrument that really caught my attention. I went through a lot in my child hood and my life now, from seeing guys robbing each other, having friends who got always into trouble, dealing with peer pressure at 12, stealing things from a young age at the shops and nearly getting stabbed. I have a lot of cousins, around 60; My family is big, especially from my mum’s side. I was a shy kid, always loud with my friends but really shy in front of people who I've just met.” Skitz Santino had gone to a primary school in West London, not far from his home, where he took his talent to. “In primary school, I got one of my names in a talent show, my mum got me a new tracksuit from Nike and my swag was point still. Everyone was looking at me saying how they liked my new clothes; one girl came up to me and said you look like a thug (in a good way); I should call you Thugz Bunny. From that day, I took that name with me, but other people and friends called me Skitz outside of school because I was always eating Skittles.”
However, he had later dropped the name Thugz Bunny in April 2011 due to seeing so many people with that. “Bare people had the name Thugz Bunny, looked on YouTube and over Google; so I was like forget this, I need to change my name. I kept the name Skitz in my mind, but I just needed something after it and up came the last name to my rap name, Santino. This name was inspired by my favourite character in my favourite movie, Santino 'Sonny' Corleone from ‘The Godfather Pt.1’. From then I kept the name Skitz Santino, I carried that with me everywhere, from school to home to even the guys that I knew from different places. That name was life changing and was very easy to remember; now all I needed from that time was a proper good quality studio.”
Skitz became in danger when the year 2009 occurred; this was the year where many teenagers were being killed due to gang violence. “2009 was a MAD year, every time my cousins came over, they talked about someone in their area got stabbed; someone round my area was shot dead. I ain't gonna lie, but I was scared but also angry because innocent people were getting killed all the time and I was only just 12. People my age were getting stabbed cos they weren't from certain ends, or you done something to provoke someone, or sometimes you didn't do anything at all, but guys still wanted you dead. What I found the hardest that year was getting accepted by the olders; I’d admit I was bad at rapping early on but they just treated me less like a brother and more like some wasteman. 2010 came up, which became worse for me emotionally and mentally than in 2009."
Between the years of 2010 to 2011, Skitz had embarked his career by uploading songs that he recorded in his bedroom onto YouTube. “2010 was the year everyone knew me but also everybody hated me. I got a few hundred views but people in school knew my rap songs; I step into the classroom and everyone’s shouting out, Thugz Bunny, Thugz Bunny! Although, my true friends and my own brother were telling me that people hated me. People would walk up to my brother and tell him that “Thugz Bunny, your brother is s***!” Even to my own face, people laughed at me. However, from having so much haters out and inside of school, this made me a better rapper, lyrically and also triggered my anger. I was angry all the time, you could ask anyone in my family; I just hated the world and sometimes myself. I stopped putting out music of my own on my YouTube channel for nearly 2 years. Then on April 24th 2011, I changed my name from Thugz Bunny to Skitz Santino. It was hard being me at that time cos rappers from gangs were getting known, and deep down I kept on thinking that I was not better than them, when I was, lyrically. From then I started to always listen to Old School Hip Hop songs, from KRS-One to people like Big L and Big Pun; I just kept listening and listening to them.”
Aside from music, he also wants to start acting, producing other people's songs, direct videos/films and also become a successful entrepreneur. It has been confirmed by his film company, BluDreams Films that Santino’s Way: The Movie is in the works. Although it would be a different concept from his mixtape Santino’s Way: The World Is Yours. Further information has yet to be confirmed.
He claims to have been inspired by legendary musicians/artists from both the UK and USA such as Big L, Big Pun, Raekwon, RZA, Skepta, Wiley, Tinie Tempah, Romeo (formerly known as Lil Romeo), 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Common, Kanye West, Eminem, AZ, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Warren G, Kendrick Lamar, So Solid Crew, Curren$y, J Spades, Nate Dogg, Pete Rock, J Dilla, Joey Bada$$, Krept & Konan, J Cole, A$AP Rocky, 50 Cent, Nas, Gangstarr, Jay Z, Ice Cube, N.W.A., Rakim, Rodney P, Jaja Soze, Lowkey, A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Dizzee Rascal, Akala, Black Tha Ripper, Bashy, The Pharcyde, De La Soul, Shalamar, Astro AKA The Astronomical Kid, Ryan Leslie 9th Wonder, Bob Dylan, The Whispers, Michael Jackson, Dynasty (Group), Canibus, Q-Tip, Das EFX, Wu Tang Clan, Logic (MD), Run DMC, Youngs Teflon, Public Enemy, Kool G Rap, Mobb Deep, Kriss Kross, Bow Wow and The Game.
He also tends to be set apart differently from other rappers. He has been inspired by genres not just Hip Hop, Rap or Grime but he also loves to listen to Jazz, R&B, G-Funk, Political Hip Hop, Soul, Afro-beats, Gospel Soul, Gospel Rap, Disco soul, Old School UK Garage and Congolese Rumba Music. “My inspirations from these genres is from looking at old songs on the internet, church, coming from a Congolese family and having friends who were always into different music. My inspiration of disco music and 80’s soul music was from the Rockstar Game, GTA: Vice City. I have been inspired by this game because first it is one of my favourite games and secondly because of the so called radio station that was included in the game, which was called Fever 105, hosted by someone called Oliver "Ladykiller" Biscuit. I wanted mainly the girls to fall in love with my impression of Oliver "Ladykiller" Biscuit trust me, I have been told by people that I talk exactly like him.”
Although, he has the passion of producing he's own songs, which he will be doing in his future EP entitled, “No Ordinary Dream”. Skitz Santino explains that concept behind all of his projects; “With the Santino’s Way mixtape, I wanted it to be a high profiling mixtape; I wanted it to sound like an album. The sound to the flow and lyrics has been mainly inspired by the old school hip hop, starting from the late 80’s to the early 21st century There is also going to be modern hip hop tracks, such as trap beats but it would have to be a concept song and not too commercial as many rappers are doing now. For my EP, it’s just basically about how in the past years I have been having No ordinary dreams; one dream I had was of me being in heaven and then someone grabbed onto my hands and as I turned around it was my granddad staring at me. He was telling me that what I'm doing for my music is good and I’ll should just keep on doing what I'm doing and let no one bring me down. It was the first time a dream like this has happened, I haven’t told anyone about this dream, not even my own family knows because I was too shocked to tell them. Most tracks in the EP will be produced by me; it will be the first project that I have produced on my own ever.”
He's upcoming mixtape, "Santino's Way: The World Is Yours", has been highly anticipated across the globe. It has been confirmed that it will be hosted by the so call, Smooth Blu, who is Skitz Santino’s alter ego. He says, " The voice and style of being Smooth Blu was inspired by the host on the Fever 105 Radio in the GTA: Vice City game. I really, really loved that voice, it was so smooth and it went along with the music from that radio station; I just wanted to do the same but in my way and I wanted the audience to feel as if Smooth Blu is an actual person.”
“My mixtape has two meanings; first meaning is that Santino's Way which explains that everything you listen to this mixtape was done my way and the way it is structured and how I decided on to the features I specifically chose. The other meaning for "The World Is Yours" means that the world is yours, so whatever negative things people say about you, you can ignore it and you can make the world yours by being positive and doing something positive. Also, the other meaning for the whole mixtape title is that it was inspired by two mob films; Scarface had that "World is yours" and the name of "Santino's Way" was inspired by Carlito's Way.”
He claims that this mixtape, lyrically and also the message and its concept of this mixtape, was inspired by many albums and other mixtapes; What mainly inspired this as a whole was music such as 2 Pac's albums "Me Against The World", Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and also Kendrick’s Lamar albums such as "Good Kid M.A.A.D. City", "Section 80" and "O.D. (Overly Dedicated)" and many more other projects have definitely inspired his mixtape. However, aside from that, musically, this mixtape has been inspired by lots of other albums from the 90’s and also other genres and some of Hip Hop’s sub genres such as Conscious Hip Hop, Soul, G-Funk, Afro-Beats, Jazz and also R&B. “I wanted to prove a difference in the UK scene by being more diverse than many other artists, a lot of artists my age are rapping about the same thing over the same old beats. This won’t be happening with my songs; my songs will prove a message towards our community and also provide every teenager a voice to be heard. My mixtape definitely will have good messages towards the audience; political issues, life issues, poverty, struggle, good times in my life, other people's lives and also talking about everyone's daily lives in not just the UK but in other parts of the world. I have connected a three part story, which is titled That Girl Pt 1, 2 and 3; these three stories are like psychological thrillers about how I meet a girl in a rave, but on her mind, she has other plans... I really can’t reveal what happens in these three parts songs but when it is released, you will definitely have to look at the lyrics, as you will understand the whole concept."
Not just only a record label but Skitz has also established his own film company and is also considering on starting a line of companies such as clothing line company, Photography Company and a Telecommunication Company. “The upcoming movie Santino’s Way will also be released through BluDreams Films. The reason why I have all of these ideas about creating businesses is because I WENT TO SCHOOL! I used to bunk off at year 8 with friends but not all the time; I focused on my education. Before I was in Year 10, I was always focused on music, no matter what. Then I started to realise that education always comes first, then jamming with friends, then music, then church; that was my initial routine. I always prayed that God will protect my family, help me in my education and my music career. I thank God that I'm even doing this interview because I would of been jamming with the mandem or smoking weed or even killing people (with my anger) if I didn't have enough belief in God.”
Born and raised in parts of West and South West London, he started rapping at the age of 5. “Whenever my uncle came to my house, he always brought these CD’s; from Nas’s debut album illmatic to Ready to Die from Notorious B.I.G. My first favourite song when I was little was, Nuthin' But a "G" Thang by Dr. Dre & Snoop doggy Dogg. When I saw that on TV, I was like WOW! This is what I really wanted to do. When I was 7, I got my first keyboard and started playing the Piano; it was an interesting instrument that really caught my attention. I went through a lot in my child hood and my life now, from seeing guys robbing each other, having friends who got always into trouble, dealing with peer pressure at 12, stealing things from a young age at the shops and nearly getting stabbed. I have a lot of cousins, around 60; My family is big, especially from my mum’s side. I was a shy kid, always loud with my friends but really shy in front of people who I've just met.” Skitz Santino had gone to a primary school in West London, not far from his home, where he took his talent to. “In primary school, I got one of my names in a talent show, my mum got me a new tracksuit from Nike and my swag was point still. Everyone was looking at me saying how they liked my new clothes; one girl came up to me and said you look like a thug (in a good way); I should call you Thugz Bunny. From that day, I took that name with me, but other people and friends called me Skitz outside of school because I was always eating Skittles.”
However, he had later dropped the name Thugz Bunny in April 2011 due to seeing so many people with that. “Bare people had the name Thugz Bunny, looked on YouTube and over Google; so I was like forget this, I need to change my name. I kept the name Skitz in my mind, but I just needed something after it and up came the last name to my rap name, Santino. This name was inspired by my favourite character in my favourite movie, Santino 'Sonny' Corleone from ‘The Godfather Pt.1’. From then I kept the name Skitz Santino, I carried that with me everywhere, from school to home to even the guys that I knew from different places. That name was life changing and was very easy to remember; now all I needed from that time was a proper good quality studio.”
Skitz became in danger when the year 2009 occurred; this was the year where many teenagers were being killed due to gang violence. “2009 was a MAD year, every time my cousins came over, they talked about someone in their area got stabbed; someone round my area was shot dead. I ain't gonna lie, but I was scared but also angry because innocent people were getting killed all the time and I was only just 12. People my age were getting stabbed cos they weren't from certain ends, or you done something to provoke someone, or sometimes you didn't do anything at all, but guys still wanted you dead. What I found the hardest that year was getting accepted by the olders; I’d admit I was bad at rapping early on but they just treated me less like a brother and more like some wasteman. 2010 came up, which became worse for me emotionally and mentally than in 2009."
Between the years of 2010 to 2011, Skitz had embarked his career by uploading songs that he recorded in his bedroom onto YouTube. “2010 was the year everyone knew me but also everybody hated me. I got a few hundred views but people in school knew my rap songs; I step into the classroom and everyone’s shouting out, Thugz Bunny, Thugz Bunny! Although, my true friends and my own brother were telling me that people hated me. People would walk up to my brother and tell him that “Thugz Bunny, your brother is s***!” Even to my own face, people laughed at me. However, from having so much haters out and inside of school, this made me a better rapper, lyrically and also triggered my anger. I was angry all the time, you could ask anyone in my family; I just hated the world and sometimes myself. I stopped putting out music of my own on my YouTube channel for nearly 2 years. Then on April 24th 2011, I changed my name from Thugz Bunny to Skitz Santino. It was hard being me at that time cos rappers from gangs were getting known, and deep down I kept on thinking that I was not better than them, when I was, lyrically. From then I started to always listen to Old School Hip Hop songs, from KRS-One to people like Big L and Big Pun; I just kept listening and listening to them.”
Aside from music, he also wants to start acting, producing other people's songs, direct videos/films and also become a successful entrepreneur. It has been confirmed by his film company, BluDreams Films that Santino’s Way: The Movie is in the works. Although it would be a different concept from his mixtape Santino’s Way: The World Is Yours. Further information has yet to be confirmed.
He claims to have been inspired by legendary musicians/artists from both the UK and USA such as Big L, Big Pun, Raekwon, RZA, Skepta, Wiley, Tinie Tempah, Romeo (formerly known as Lil Romeo), 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., Common, Kanye West, Eminem, AZ, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, DJ Quik, Warren G, Kendrick Lamar, So Solid Crew, Curren$y, J Spades, Nate Dogg, Pete Rock, J Dilla, Joey Bada$$, Krept & Konan, J Cole, A$AP Rocky, 50 Cent, Nas, Gangstarr, Jay Z, Ice Cube, N.W.A., Rakim, Rodney P, Jaja Soze, Lowkey, A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Dizzee Rascal, Akala, Black Tha Ripper, Bashy, The Pharcyde, De La Soul, Shalamar, Astro AKA The Astronomical Kid, Ryan Leslie 9th Wonder, Bob Dylan, The Whispers, Michael Jackson, Dynasty (Group), Canibus, Q-Tip, Das EFX, Wu Tang Clan, Logic (MD), Run DMC, Youngs Teflon, Public Enemy, Kool G Rap, Mobb Deep, Kriss Kross, Bow Wow and The Game.
He also tends to be set apart differently from other rappers. He has been inspired by genres not just Hip Hop, Rap or Grime but he also loves to listen to Jazz, R&B, G-Funk, Political Hip Hop, Soul, Afro-beats, Gospel Soul, Gospel Rap, Disco soul, Old School UK Garage and Congolese Rumba Music. “My inspirations from these genres is from looking at old songs on the internet, church, coming from a Congolese family and having friends who were always into different music. My inspiration of disco music and 80’s soul music was from the Rockstar Game, GTA: Vice City. I have been inspired by this game because first it is one of my favourite games and secondly because of the so called radio station that was included in the game, which was called Fever 105, hosted by someone called Oliver "Ladykiller" Biscuit. I wanted mainly the girls to fall in love with my impression of Oliver "Ladykiller" Biscuit trust me, I have been told by people that I talk exactly like him.”
Although, he has the passion of producing he's own songs, which he will be doing in his future EP entitled, “No Ordinary Dream”. Skitz Santino explains that concept behind all of his projects; “With the Santino’s Way mixtape, I wanted it to be a high profiling mixtape; I wanted it to sound like an album. The sound to the flow and lyrics has been mainly inspired by the old school hip hop, starting from the late 80’s to the early 21st century There is also going to be modern hip hop tracks, such as trap beats but it would have to be a concept song and not too commercial as many rappers are doing now. For my EP, it’s just basically about how in the past years I have been having No ordinary dreams; one dream I had was of me being in heaven and then someone grabbed onto my hands and as I turned around it was my granddad staring at me. He was telling me that what I'm doing for my music is good and I’ll should just keep on doing what I'm doing and let no one bring me down. It was the first time a dream like this has happened, I haven’t told anyone about this dream, not even my own family knows because I was too shocked to tell them. Most tracks in the EP will be produced by me; it will be the first project that I have produced on my own ever.”
He's upcoming mixtape, "Santino's Way: The World Is Yours", has been highly anticipated across the globe. It has been confirmed that it will be hosted by the so call, Smooth Blu, who is Skitz Santino’s alter ego. He says, " The voice and style of being Smooth Blu was inspired by the host on the Fever 105 Radio in the GTA: Vice City game. I really, really loved that voice, it was so smooth and it went along with the music from that radio station; I just wanted to do the same but in my way and I wanted the audience to feel as if Smooth Blu is an actual person.”
“My mixtape has two meanings; first meaning is that Santino's Way which explains that everything you listen to this mixtape was done my way and the way it is structured and how I decided on to the features I specifically chose. The other meaning for "The World Is Yours" means that the world is yours, so whatever negative things people say about you, you can ignore it and you can make the world yours by being positive and doing something positive. Also, the other meaning for the whole mixtape title is that it was inspired by two mob films; Scarface had that "World is yours" and the name of "Santino's Way" was inspired by Carlito's Way.”
He claims that this mixtape, lyrically and also the message and its concept of this mixtape, was inspired by many albums and other mixtapes; What mainly inspired this as a whole was music such as 2 Pac's albums "Me Against The World", Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and also Kendrick’s Lamar albums such as "Good Kid M.A.A.D. City", "Section 80" and "O.D. (Overly Dedicated)" and many more other projects have definitely inspired his mixtape. However, aside from that, musically, this mixtape has been inspired by lots of other albums from the 90’s and also other genres and some of Hip Hop’s sub genres such as Conscious Hip Hop, Soul, G-Funk, Afro-Beats, Jazz and also R&B. “I wanted to prove a difference in the UK scene by being more diverse than many other artists, a lot of artists my age are rapping about the same thing over the same old beats. This won’t be happening with my songs; my songs will prove a message towards our community and also provide every teenager a voice to be heard. My mixtape definitely will have good messages towards the audience; political issues, life issues, poverty, struggle, good times in my life, other people's lives and also talking about everyone's daily lives in not just the UK but in other parts of the world. I have connected a three part story, which is titled That Girl Pt 1, 2 and 3; these three stories are like psychological thrillers about how I meet a girl in a rave, but on her mind, she has other plans... I really can’t reveal what happens in these three parts songs but when it is released, you will definitely have to look at the lyrics, as you will understand the whole concept."
Not just only a record label but Skitz has also established his own film company and is also considering on starting a line of companies such as clothing line company, Photography Company and a Telecommunication Company. “The upcoming movie Santino’s Way will also be released through BluDreams Films. The reason why I have all of these ideas about creating businesses is because I WENT TO SCHOOL! I used to bunk off at year 8 with friends but not all the time; I focused on my education. Before I was in Year 10, I was always focused on music, no matter what. Then I started to realise that education always comes first, then jamming with friends, then music, then church; that was my initial routine. I always prayed that God will protect my family, help me in my education and my music career. I thank God that I'm even doing this interview because I would of been jamming with the mandem or smoking weed or even killing people (with my anger) if I didn't have enough belief in God.”