Top Dawg Entertainment, home to Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, SZA, Jay Rock, Ab Soul and Isaiah Rashad, appear to have just unveiled the latest signing to their family: Lance SkiiiWalker.
TDE teased not one, but two new signees to the label. CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith posted this now infamous Instagram image detailing all upcoming releases. This was in the lead-up to Kendrick’s stunning surprise release untitled unmastered:
The first of those John Doe artists has now presumably been announced by way of social media, with all members of the TDE family, and the label itself, tweeting:
. @skiiiwalker ?
— TopDawgEnt (@TopDawgEnt) May 11, 2016
. @skiiiwalker ?
— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) May 11, 2016
. @skiiiwalker ?
— SZA (@sza) May 11, 2016
…and so on.
Considering the only tweet that SkiiiWalker has ‘liked’ from his new account is this one, and that his followers already include Kendrick Lamar, Isaiah Rashad and Ab-Soul, I’d say it’s a no-brainer. Welcome to TDE, Lance Skiiiwalker.
As DJBooth point out, this isn’t a huge shock considering that SkiiiWalker has featured on a number of TDE relesaes in recent months. SkiiiWalker features on two tracks on 90059 by Jay Rock – Telegram and Money Trees Deuce, and although some speculated that these hooks were sung by Jay himself, SkiiiWalker was later deemed responsible. In addition, he sings with SZA on Kendrick’s untitled 4, and produced ScHoolboy Q’s His & Her Fiend.
So who exactly is he? We did a little digging and this is what we found about Lance SkiiiWalker. Get familiar, because you’ll be hearing this name a lot more throughout the rest of the year.
Lance SkiiiWalker, real name Lance Howard, is a Chicago-based rapper whose been on the come up for close to a decade, if not longer. His first recorded tracks still available online can be found under the moniker Johnny Rocket, both as a solo artist and one half of Chicago hip-hop duo The Rockateers, alongside D-Win, aka Darius Windfield.
Check them out back in 2008:
As a solo artist, he evidently built a quick reputation for himself through his soulful, conscious tunes and his rich, low voice, which sounds like absolute honey both on hook and verse. Check out this gorgeous song titled The Prayer.
Here’s another track of Howard’s, the kind that no doubt caught TDE’s attention, Eat, Pray, Love, released in 2011:
Johnny Rocket- EAT PRAY LOVE (HD) from FLY KITE on Vimeo.
Welcome to our favourite hip-hop family, SkiiiWalker. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for us.
Image: OurStage