Florida rapper Ski Mask The Slump God (real name Stokeley Goulbourne) has had a compelling career. He has been in the mainstream for almost a decade now and shows no sign of slowing down. Born and raised in the Fort Lauderdale neighbourhood just outside of Miami, the emcee emerged around 2014 and slowly became a platinum-selling artist.
The culture became aware of the rapper after he captured Miami alongside XXXTentacion with his rock-inspired, twisted take on hip-hop. Goulbourne formed the collective Very Rare alongside Tentacion in 2014. The duo eventually renamed the group Members Only and soon began recording together. The pair released three mixtapes on SoundCloud and regularly collaborated with their peers. Members Only Vol. One, two and three featured the likes of Lil Pump, Offset and New York rapper Desiigner. As the two Florida natives steadily climbed up rap ranks. Shortly after, XXXTentacion shot to the top with his single, ‘Look At Me’, and by association, Goulborne would gain a lot of exposure.
Initially on SoundCloud but later via streaming services, the big shot released multiple singles, including, ‘Life Is Short’, ‘Like a Soccer Mom’, ‘Take a Step Back’, and ‘BabyWipe.’ Developing a cult fanbase by continuously and consistently releasing mixtapes by 2018, he was an XXL Freshman. By achieving all of this and more, Ski Mask The Slump God became a well-known name within the culture and, to this day, is releasing material for his eager fans.
In 2021, the emcee spoke with renowned publication XXL after announcing a sophomore body of work. Only three years prior, his gold-selling debut album, Stokeley, had debuted at number six on the Billboard 200. The project boasted platinum singles and left fans hungry for more. Following a three-year hiatus, the rapper was happy to get back to work on music and keen to share his vision. During the interview, Goulbourne shared his thoughts on the death of his friend XXXTentaicon and his unveiled five favourite rappers.
Addressing a tweet the rapper had made about those superficially praising XXXTentacion, Goulbourne explained why it upset him: “It just gets to a point where I get fed up seeing people perform [X’s] song in a disingenuous way or just not even knowing the lyrics… You know three lyrics and you’re like, ‘Yeah, just turn up to the song! Give me a break to my own performance’ or some shit, you feel me?… I don’t feel like it’s a, ‘Rest In Peace to my brother,’ truly. I just feel like it’s a, ‘Throw this song on because I know it’s lit’ type of thing.”
During the latter half of the conversation, the Florida artist was asked to name his five favourite rappers. As a contentious yet intriguing question, his answer showed a range of acts from different generations. Following a brief period of contemplation, Golbourne responded, “Alright so, it’d have to be X, Juice [Wrld], Busta, [Young] Thug and maybe Lil Wayne, because I was listening to a lot of Lil Wayne back then.” You can watch Ski Mask’s interview with XXL in the video below.
Ski Mask The Slump God’s five favourite rappers:
- XXXTentacion
- Juice Wrld
- Busta Rhymes
- Young Thug
- Lil Wayne
