Skinnyman (born Alexander Graham Holland, 9 November 1974) is a British

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

who was born in Chapeltown

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and moved to

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in Harringay, north London, England. The park lies on the southern-most edge of the London Borough of Haringey. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal ...

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 ...

at a young age. He is best known for his sole album ''Council Estate of Mind''.

Biography

Skinnyman was born in 1974 in Chapeltown, Leeds. He moved to London with his mother and two siblings at the age of ten. The family lived on the Six Acres Estate next to

Andover Estate The Andover Estate, in Holloway, London, Holloway, North London, is a large Islington London Borough Council housing estate which is flanked by Hornsey Road (west), Seven Sisters Road (south), Durham Road (east) and Birnam Road (north). It falls ...

. Among his friends was fellow Leeds-born, London-raised Cornwall DJ Pat Mckay. In the early 1990s he was part of The Bury Crew. Later he formed the Mud Family with Mongo,

Chester P Joey Coombes (born 21 June 1976), better known as Chester P, is a British rapper. He was a founding member of Task Force, Bury Crew and the M.U.D. Family. He and his brother Farma G are both sons of musician Peet Coombes. Chester P Hackenb ...

and

Farma G Robin Coombes, better known as Farma G, is a rapper and hip-hop producer. He formed one half of UK hip-hop group Task Force along ith his brother Chester P, and was a founding member of Bury Crew and the MUD Family. He is the son of musician ...

. The group which released a number of EPs including the Mud Family EP in 2002. They also released "Itchy Town" and "Lash Suttin", a reworking of Redman's "Smash Something". Later Mr. Ti2bs, Uncle Festa and more joined the group. Skinnyman appeared in the first episode of '' Tower Block Dreams'', aired in January 2004. It was a documentary series on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

which looked into the underground music scene in

council estates Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

''Council Estate of Mind'' (2004 - present)

Skinnyman released his sole solo album, ''

Council Estate of Mind ''Council Estate of Mind'' is the debut studio album by England, English rapper Skinnyman, released on 9 August 2004 by Low Life Records. It was produced by DJ Flip, Stoned Soldiers, Adam M, and others. The album makes use of samples from ''Ma ...

'' in 2004. The album was released on

Low Life Records Joe Christie, better known as Braintax, is a British rapper and record producer. Christie had also recorded or appeared under the pseudonyms Brando Flux and Joey Brains. All of his releases were on his own record label, Low Life Records. Origi ...

in 2004, shortly before Skinnyman was again incarcerated. It spent two weeks in the official album chart, with a peak position of number 65. Notably many samples on the album are taken from the 1982

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

Made in Britain ''Made in Britain'' is a 1983 British television play written by David Leland and directed by Alan Clarke. It follows a 16-year-old racist skinhead and his constant confrontations with authority figures. It was broadcast on ITV on 10 July 19 ...

.'' He played a small part in the 2005 interactive TV series ''

Dubplate Drama ''Dubplate Drama'' is a British television drama series, created, written and directed by Luke Hyams, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 11 November 2005. The series follows the plight of teenage grime MC Dionne lead actress played by ( Chanel "Shy ...

''. In 2011, Skinnyman was sentenced sixteen months for threatening his ex-girlfriend and damaging her car. Skinnyman claimed in a 2019 interview with '' The Face'' to have "never been paid a penny to this day from ''Council Estate of Mind''."

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

*''Fuck the Hook EP'' (2003, Low Life) *''No Big Ting'' / ''Council Estate of Mind'' (2004, Low Life) *''I'll Be Surprised'' / ''Never Gonna Happen'' (2004, Low Life) *''Creatures of the Night'' / ''My Life in Rhymes'' (2004, PM Muzik) * ''Forever Rangers'' / ''Not Bonnie & Clyde (Instrumentals) -'' Skinnyman & DJ Flip (2005, Netgroove) * ''Sensi Skank -'' Ruben da Silva feat. Skinnyman & Manasseh (2011, RR008) *''Music Speaks Louder Than Words'' (2011) *''Ya Fool'' - K*ners & Skinnyman (2022)

Guest appearances

*''The London Convention – The London Allstars (single), 1997'' *''New Mic Order –

Task Force A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many ...

, 1999'' *''putt the word out – mystro & jargon, 1999 deal real records'' *'' U.S.S.R. Life from the Other Side –

DJ Vadim Vadim Alexandrovich Peare (), known professionally as DJ Vadim, is a Russian-British DJ and record producer. Born in Saint Petersburg and raised in London, Peare is additionally a promoter, record collector, radio presenter, occasional painter ...

, 1999'' *''The Unknown – Mark B & Blade, 2000'' *''Twilight Of The Gods – Skitz (single), 2000'' *''Word Lab – Various Artists, 2000'' *''Big Tings We Inna –

Rodney P Rodney Panton, also known as Rodney P (born in Balham, London, 12 December 1969) is an English MC, as well as a radio and television personality who first gained attention via the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. A former member of UK hip-hop gro ...

(single), 2001'' *''

Biro Funk ''Biro Funk'' is the debut studio album by Braintax, released on Low Life Records in 2001. By the time of the album's release, Braintax was a solo artist - Joseph Christie. Prior to the release of Biro Funk, Braintax had released a number of EPs ...

–

Braintax Joe Christie, better known as Braintax, is a British rapper and record producer. Christie had also recorded or appeared under the pseudonyms Brando Flux and Joey Brains. All of his releases were on his own record label, Low Life Records. Origi ...

, 2001'' *''Countryman – Skitz, 2001'' *''The Legacy: Episode 1 – Various Artists, 2001'' *''Bang Y2K –

(single), 2002'' *''U.S.S.R. The Art Of Listening –

, 2002'' *''Straight Outta Botley- WESTWOOD VOLUME 2, 2002'' *''

Asylum Speakers ''Asylum Speakers'' is the debut album by the UK-based hip-hop group Foreign Beggars. It was released on 15 September 2003 on the group's own Dented Records label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, c ...

–

Foreign Beggars Foreign Beggars were an English Hip hop music, hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four a ...

, 2003'' *''Civilians – Dark Circles, 2003'' *''

The World According to RZA ''The World According to RZA'' is a compilation album featuring the production of Wu-Tang Clan member RZA that features his tracks for emcees from a variety of European countries. The album was never released in the United States. Recording In a ...

– Various Artists, 2003'' *''Basementality EP (Part 1) – Underground Alliance, 2004'' *''Elementz Universe Vol. 1 – The Elementz (single), 2004'' *''Have Patience – Karl Hinds, 2004'' *''Lets Av It – Karl Hinds Feat. Skinnyman 2004'' *''When I Give My Heart To You – DJ Mentat (single), 2004'' *''Bar Fight – First Rate (single), 2005'' *''Fame And Money – The Booty Bouncers (single), 2005'' *''Skitz Homegrown Vol. 2 – Various Artists, 2005'' *''Tip of Da Mysberg Volume 1 – Mystro, 2005'' *''Up Your Speed (remix) – Sway, 2005'' *''The Whole Nine - Sway, Life & Skinnyman 2006'' *''U Must Learn - Skinnyman,

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

, Paradise 2006'' *''Change Your Heart – Nemesis & Arrogance Real Records, 2006'' *''One Less Gun – Delta, The Lostralian LP 2006'' *''Another Day – Angela Lawriw, 2006'' *''Shakespeare (remix) Akala'' *''The Boy Who Cried Wolf – Dap C feat. Skinnyman & S.Kalibre NGU Records, 2006'' *''Down –

Lunar C Jake Brook (born 21 June 1990), better known by his stage name Lunar C, is an English rapper. Between his rap battles in Don't Flop, Lunar C has accumulated over eight million hits and was awarded trophies for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Performance o ...

, 2017'' *''Thriller - Fliptrix (Prod. Joe Corfield)

High Focus Records High Focus Records is an independent British hip-hop record label founded by rapper Fliptrix in 2010, following the collapse of Low Life Records. History In 2008, Fliptrix was in the process of releasing his first album on Low Life Records ...

, 2019'' *''Jack - RATS, When I Say Run Records, 2019'' *''All In Together - Ricky Lix feat.

Cappadonna Darryl Hill (born September 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Cappadonna, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan and is a member of the hip hop group Theodore Unit together with Ghostface Killah. ...

, Skinnyman & Harry Ixer (2021)'' *''TrueMendous - Yourself or The World?(Prod. Illinformed)

, 2022'' *Price of Love - Blacksmith, 2022

References

External links

Official website

BBC Radio 1 InterviewMud Family discography
at the UK Hip Hop Database {{Authority control English male rappers Musicians from Leeds 1974 births Living people English rappers English hip-hop musicians