Know your entertainers: Local rap artist Skypp reaches Top 10 on iTunes

An Indianapolis artist climbed the iTunes charts for a second time, joining the ranks alongside notable rappers such as Drake, Eminem and Dr. Dre less than 12 hours after the release of his album, “Sorry 4 My Trauma.”

Rapper, songwriter and record producer Byron Horton, aka Skypp, released his latest album Feb. 3, reaching No. 6 behind Drake and 21 Savage on iTunes Top 40 Hip-Hop Albums.

Skypp first gained notoriety in 2011 when he began weekly freestyles over well-known rap instrumentals and has gone on to release several albums since, charting as high as No. 13 on the iTunes chart before S4MT.

Before the days of SoundCloud, he wrote music with friends and exchanged lyrics in notebooks, but his shy nature caused him to stray away from sharing his music with others. That was until middle school, when a group of girls stole one of his notebooks and read his raps in front of the class to poke fun at him.

“They probably expected me to be discouraged, but it really motivated me to really make these people believers,” Skypp said.

Within the 12 songs on S4MT, Skypp meticulously paints the traumas of growing up in poverty on the east side of Indianapolis — dealing with the death of close friends, family alcoholism and the traumas of trying to survive. Skypp said “making it out” is what fuels his passion for music.

“I’m inspired by the struggle. A lot of people say I make reality music or struggle music,” Skypp said. “I really just want to make it out of the struggle.”

Skypp has performed with Babyface in a sold-out Bankers Life Fieldhouse and been featured with Grammy-winning artist Rhymefest, but he said he’s not finished and constantly strives to achieve greater things. The shows and features aren’t that important to him; what he really enjoys is opening up to others and allowing them to feel the music he creates.

“It’s all rooted in soul,” Skypp said. “I definitely like to make music that people can feel when they listen to it. It doesn’t mean nothing if you can’t feel it, like it’s a waste of art. That might be a little over the top, but that’s just how I feel when it comes to music. I feel like you should be able to feel it somewhere. Even if it makes you dance, you just have to feel it. I don’t want to feel anger and I don’t want to feel violent when I listen to music. I just want to feel good.” 

Sorry 4 My Trauma is now available on all platforms. 

Contact staff writer Jayden Kennett at 317-762-7847 or by email jaydenk@indyrecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @JournoJay.

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