Skittles- 3 Tunes

Gottwood festival, which you might have read our review of here, had a pretty ill lineup. Across the spectrum of electronic music there was a fair bit of variety to be heard. One artist who wasn’t on the lineup though, was the vocalist/producer behind one of our albums of the year, Skittles, who’s Mancunian twist on hip hop blew our skulls out when he dropped Dot to Dot, one of the leading singles from the even more incredible Poor with £100 Trainers album. Even so, our ears pricked up one night when, out of nowhere during a Chimpo set (I think, it’s all a bit hazy if I’m honest), came a live rendition of said tune, with the man himself stepping out of the crowd to bless the microphone.

Skittles (back left in red) messes with Chimpo while Strategy tears the mic.

It turns out he had popped across the border into Wales alongside the Hit & Run crew who were hosting a night in the barn, seemingly just for the recreational activities. After he stepped down from the stage, we caught up with him to the sounds of his tunes banging out from Hit & Run sets next door, almost drowned out by the lively crowd packed into the small building, and, between drunken slurs and watching him generally wreak havok and mischief, got him to talk through his current top three tunes as a follow up to our recent interview. In the words of Skittles…….

Fox & Chimpo- Harder

Fox has obviously experienced a lot more than most of us. Me, I’m Manchester born and bred and I’ve lived there all my life, so I tell you about city life in Manchester as well as I can. Fox though, he’s been through a lot more environments and cultures. The way he spits on that tune just seems a lot more global than what I’m capable of. He just seems to know what’s going on everywhere and it connects to everyone. That’s the best tune I’ve heard out of Manchester since I was born I reckon.

Dub Phizix- (all of them- I’ve picked a random below. Also check his Dot2Dot remix)

I can’t pick a tune with Dub Phizix. They’re all the same man, but they’re all bad [laughs]. As soon as you hear one of his tunes you know it’s Dub Phizix so in that way he’s got this style, but then it doesn’t drop how you thought it would or whatever an he just switches it up. He’s a sick producer, an that’s why he’s spoilt for vocalists, guys like me you know? [more laughter] The reason I’ll vocal his tracks yer, is basically…. you know sherbert lemons? The sweets? He puts glass in them, goes to the bar and gives them to kids. He’s proper mean you know? I just wanted to put him on the straight and narrow, get him out of that nasty shit, so I thought I’d damage his beats an help him out. You can quote me on that…… [when I ask him if he's being serious and I can actually quote him he says 'yes, pleeaase do' through a cheeky grin. Take the food for thought with a pinch of salt....]

[We stop for a bit to harass a passing dealer about his poor business techniques, mourn the loss of our draw and then, amid laughter, all I can hear is the word 'BUMBAG' multiple times before Skittles says 'You've got a bumbag on.... what does that say about society' and we eventually spin back to the topic at hand.}

War- Lowrider

This tunes just sick, you know it yer? [this is where it all gets a bit chaotic as Skittles launches into a slurring rendition of the tune, gradually joined by heads round the room] Blem, blem blem, blem blem, blem blem. Da da da, dem dem. Low…..Ri….der. Is a little higher. Ba bam bam da da…..

[At this, our merry little band round the table just completely loses the plot and we eventually part ways in the crowd]

I understand this may not be the cleanest, most well deciphered interview you’ve ever read. But I don’t think that would really get the vibe of the night across, or even the vibe of Skittles, at all. It was rowdy, rawkus and funny, constantly broken up by various distractions, on both of our parts, and added to by various heads around the table chiming in and the queue to the room a few feet behind us providing constant cannon fodder for Skittles’ sharp tongue. What matters though, is the three ridiculously good tunes/producers above. Enjoy.