Alphonso Castro K. Bondzie (1 February 1975 – 27 February 2022), better known as MC Skibadee, was a British recording artist and

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

MC.

Career

Skibadee started on City Sound Radio in 1993 featuring on the Live and Direct show, with DJs Pro-D and Cyrus, and by early 1995 he regularly featured at

jungle music Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed in the 1990s out of the UK rave scene and Jamaican sound system culture. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, ...

events such as Thunder & Joy and Spirit of the Jungle, as well as his regular spot on radio. By the end of 1995, he was resident for the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

station

Kool FM Kool FM, also known as Kool London, is a former London pirate radio station that now broadcasts on DAB and online, playing jungle, drum and bass, and old skool. Kool is generally regarded as being instrumental in the development of the jung ...

, and regularly featured at events such as Jungle Fever, New Jack City, and Innersense. Along with MC Det of Kool FM, he launched a new project called 2Xfreestyle in late 1997, which involved putting a

tempo over a

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

beat, therefore creating a "double time" effect. He would often perform this style with its innovator

Stevie Hyper D Stevie Hyper D (born Stephen Austin, 20 September 1966 – 5 July 1998) was a British drum and bass MCing, MC. Early life Stephen Austin was born in London, England on 20 September 1966, to a Spanish people, Spanish mother and Barbadian people, ...

. The single and subsequent video "Inside Me" was a success and after being accepted on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and The Box. In 1999, he received the first of three the Knowledge Awards for best MC, and three Accelerated Culture Awards. Since 2000, he began collaborating with MC Shabba D (also known as Shabba) which became the partnership commonly known as "S.A.S." and became synonymous with the

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

s Telepathy and One Nation. In 2003, he provided the vocals for

Dillinja Karl Nicholas Francis, also known as Dillinja, is a British jungle/drum and bass DJ and record producer. Biography Dillinja is a prolific producer and artist within the jungle and drum and bass scene. Since 1991, Dillinja has produced a number ...

's UK chart-breaking "Twist Em Out". In 2006 he won the

1Xtra Award BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been code ...

for best MC and in 2007 he won best MC southwest Drum n Bass award. In 2008 and 2009, Skibadee won best Lyrical MC and best Hype MC in the national Drum and bass awards and 2010 is the third year in a row as the best Crowd Hyper MC as well as the Stevie Hyper D Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010, he won best MC at the Drum & Bass Arena Awards.

Personal life and death

Bondzie was born in

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

, London on 1 February 1975. In 2019, he auctioned two outfits to raise money for

The Sickle Cell Society The Sickle Cell Society , established as a registered charity in 1979, was founded by a group of people with sickle cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD), also simply called sickle cell, is a group of inherited Hemoglobinopathy, haemoglobin- ...

. He died on 27 February 2022, at the age of 47.

References

External links

Archived website
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* {{Authority control 1975 births 2022 deaths English drum and bass musicians Musicians from the London Borough of Lambeth