MC Skibadee

MC Skibadee
Also known as	Skibs, Skiba
Origin	Waterloo, London, England
Genres	Drum and bass, jungle, hip hop, breakbeat
Years active	1993–present
Website	http://www.skibadee.co.uk

Skibadee is an English electronic music recording artist and MC. He is also a member of the dnb group SASASAS.

Biography

He started on City Sound Radio around 1993, and by early 1995 Skibadee was featured regularly at events such as Thunder & Joy, Johnson & Johnsons, Spirit of the Jungle, Ballroom Dance at the Blackpool Tower and his regular spot on City Sound Radio alongside Djs Pro-D and Cyrus on the Live & Direct show. By the end of 1995 Skibadee was resident for all Kool FM, Fever, T & J, Malachite, Electrybe, NJC, Designer label Ball, and Innersense. Along with MC Det, Skibadee launched a new project called 2Xfreestyle in late 1997, which involved putting a Drum and Bass tempo over a Hip-Hop beat, therefore creating a doubletime effect. He would often perform this style with its innovator Stevie Hyper D (deceased).

The single and subsequent video 'Inside Me' was a success and after being accepted on MTV and The Box. In 1999 Skibadee received the first of three the Knowledge Awards for best MC, and three Accelerated culture awards. Since 2000, Skibadee began collaborating with MC Shabba D, also known as 'Shabba D' or 'Shabba' which has now become Drum and Bass partnership S.A.S, Skiba and Shabba.

In 2006, he won the 1Xtra award for best MC, and in 2007 he won best MC southwest Drum n Bass award. In 2008 and 2009, Skibadee won best Lyrical MC and best Hype MC in the national Drum and bass awards and 2010 is the third year in a row as the best Crowd Hyper MC as well as the Stevie Hyper D Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010 he won best MC at the Drum & Bass Arena Awards.

Formation of Bottle Squad

Whilst performing with DJ Friction at Reading Festival in 2017, just minutes into the set, a loosely tightened bottle was thrown at Skibadee. It transpired that the bottle was actually full of urine, which soaked Skibadee, and an altercation began in the crowd when Skibadee stopped the set, and demanded to know who threw the bottle. It turned out that it was actually MC Five O, an MC in the early years of the drum and bass scene, who had not achieved the same level of success that Skibadee enjoyed, mainly because of a sexual molestation charge, which he vehemently denied. Eye witnesses reported that, prior to the bottle being thrown, they had noticed a man desperately sobbing, telling those near by that "it should have been me up there".

Once the crowd had pointed Five O out, a fight between the two broke out, as Skibadee jumped off stage, and confronted him. During the altercation, Skibadee could be heard making his signature 'dog bark' sound, while he wrestled Five O to the ground. Security were called in, and disrupted the fight, and after tempers had cooled down, DJ Friction suggested that Five O be invited onto the stage, to perform together. It turned out to arguably be one of the most classic, and iconic sets of the decade, indeed winning UKF's "best set 2017", and led to Skibadee, Five O and DJ Friction creating a drum and bass triplet, which they named 'Bottle Squad'.

They regularly performed together at various rave events, both around the UK and continental Europe, headlining many of these, and getting massive respect from the entire rave scene. 2020 was set to see Bottle Squad continue to dominate the raves, but most events were cancelled, due to COVID. They did however, manage to perform a number of venues in the early months, one of which was where Skibadee met his current partner, Shanice McAnderson, who was a huge Bottle Squad fan, and the two are now reportedly expecting twins. In a recent Bottle Squad interview, with Drum and Bass YouTube channel, DnB PORTAL, Skibadee was quoted as saying "you would never think that being pelted with a bottle of urine could lead to so much happiness!".

In the same interview Five O went on to explain, that he and Skibadee, prior to the Reading festival set, had not spoken since the late 1990s, due to Skibadee having an intimate relationship with Five O's younger sister, Aliyah. Something that Five O was very upset about, as he was also secretly having an intimate relationship with her, which was abruptly ended, when their, ultra-conservative Christian parents, found them indulging in a graphic sexual act, in the garden shed. The sister was sent to a Catholic boarding school, where she still resides, as a nun, teaching Catholic ethics. Five O decided to run away from home, firstly staying at fellow drum and bass legend, DJ Scratchy Scrots house, whilst continuously trying to make a name for himself in the rave scene. However, after seeing an article in the Rolling Stone, naming him as 'Drum and Bass' worst MC', voted for by readers, he quit the scene, and instead decided to find work elsewhere, putting his natural talent with numbers to some use, and after studying for a masters degree, and achieving a First, he then went on to became a highly successful financial advisor in Birmingham, earning a six-figure salary.

Alas, the old saying "money can't buy happiness" was true in Five O's case. He commented "I was just sick with jealousy man! I mean, me and Skibadee literally came in in the D&B scene together! I thought my career, as far as MCing was dead and buried. I was making a proper good living, but I was deeply bored of it all. Went to Reading festival, just to get totally lashed up on class A's, and forget the monotony of work for a few days. I didn't even know Skibadee was performing, until I stumbled into the dance tent. I just want to get wasted and skank the pain away. Then I heard him, looked up at the stage, and just saw red. To be honest, I can't even remember throwing the bottle or the fight. My memory is just walking in, seeing Skibadee, then suddenly being on the stage, mic in hand, and spitting absolute fire! They say everything happens for a reason, I just thank god, that I needed a slash at that point, otherwise, I wouldn't even be here at this interview! Straight up destiny blud!". Skibadee holds his hand, gently stroking it, and gazing longingly at Five O. Friction stares at them both with his mouth wide open in shock at what he'd just heard, mumbling, almost incoherently "you were both slipping Aliyah one?".

External links

• Official website
• Skibadee discography at Discogs