Skiddalz is an MC who grew up in a place 80 minutes north of the colorful Lou. Resting in Illinois is a city called Centralia -- a place, according to city-data.com, where Caucasian females account for 45% of the population. Being white and female in Centralia is statistically normal. Nationally, being a white, female MC is rare, yet Centralia resident Angel Graham a.k.a Skiddalz is just that. The MC grew up in a city more Pleasantville than St. Louis, yet she is earning success in a genre of music where her race and gender establish her as an anomaly.
Skiddalz, who admits being a fan of Nelly, and even makes an allusion to Country Grammar on her webite, notes the lack of hip-hop as Centralia's major pitfal. She recalls crossing the Mississippi with her father to attend hip-hop shows in St. Louis when she was a teenager. Due to her suspicious appearance (it's not everyday a woman who resembles Glee cast member Ashley Fink hangs out a rap concert), she says, in a phone interview with RFT Music, the audience members would ask her, "Why are you here? What are you doing?". The negative effects of the interrogations had a way of finding themselves into songs.
"I don't write about topics, I write about emotions." she says. She also prefers writing alone, and by "alone" she explains that she means, "Putting myself in a box,". By separating herself from distractions, Skiddalz is able to peacefully type out songs. Why type? The lefty's brain moves so fast that her writing is illegible. Every bedroom rhyme writer take note: the products of many "delusional" nights of writing can catch the ears of MTV talent scouts.
The attention-grabbing track chosen for the speed-dating show NEXT is called "Go White Girl". Skiddalz, who began performing at age 17, cites the inspiration for the track from shows where the crowd started chanting "Go white girl, go white girl, go!"at the end of her set. The song has the female MC providing a snapping flow of braggadocio heavy subject matter with the speed of a Ferrari. Zooming through her credentials on the track, Skiddalz is not negotiating her terms, but demanding that respect be given to her talent. After uploading "Go White Girl" to her unsigned.com profile, Skiddalz says began receiving e-mails in 2008 from an MTV talent scout requesting her music after stumbling across the profile.
Two years after her initial success, Skiddalz, was keeping up with MTV contacts, e-mailing them tracks to be considered for other shows. In 2010, her music began appearing in the soundtrack to the show infamous for introducing the terms "Guido" and "Guidette" into America's vernacular: Jersey Shore. Fours songs included in the show's second season, "OMG", "Pop Magic", "4 Da DJs", and "HeadPhones" became fist pump anthems.
As Jersey Shore's Pauly D is branching out on his own as a DJ with a solo reality TV gig, a Skiddalz track is finding its way into his latest venture. Premiering March 29, audiences across the US will be hearing the track "Party Hard" on the The Pauly D Project.
More of Skiddalz' music and upcoming show information can be found on her website.
