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

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

who was born in Chapeltown

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and moved to

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London park ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

at a young age. He grew up on the Six Acres Estate next to Andover Estate. Among his friends was fellow Leeds-born, London-raised Cornwall DJ Pat Mckay. He formed the Mud Family with Mongo and Chester P, a group which released a number of EPs. These included such records as "Itchy Town" and "Lash Suttin", a reworking of Redman's "Smash Something". Later Supar Novar, Mr. Ti2bs, Uncle Festa and more joined the group. Skinnyman released a solo album, '' Council Estate of Mind'' in 2004. He appeared in the first episode of '' Tower Block Dreams'', a 2004 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 targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

which looked into the underground music scene in council estates. He also 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 "Sh ...

''.

2004: ''Council Estate of Mind''

''Council Estate of Mind'' was released on Low Life Records in 2004, shortly before Skinnyman was again incarcerated. It spent two weeks in the official album chart, with a peak position of number 65. Skinnyman claimed in a 2019 interview with ''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antoni ...

'' to have "never been paid a penny to this day from ''Council Estate of Mind''." Notably many samples on the album are taken from the 1982 television play ''

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 ...

.''

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

*''Fuck the Hook EP'' (2003,

Low Life A low-life (or lowlife) is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people society often labels low-lives include aggressive panhandlers, bullies, criminals, drug dealers, freeloaders, hobos, ...

) *"No Big Ting / Council Estate of Mind" (2004,

) *"I'll Be Surprised / Never Gonna Happen" (2004,

) *"Creatures of the Night / My Life in Rhymes" (2004, PM Muzik) * Skinnyman & DJ Flip – "Forever Rangers / Not Bonnie & Clyde (Instrumentals)" (2005, Netgroove) * Ruben da Silva feat. Skinnyman & Manasseh - "Sensi Skank" (2011, RR008) *''Music Speaks Louder Than Words EP'' (TBC, Mud Fam Music)

Guest appearances

*''The London Convention – The London Allstars (single), 1997'' *''New Mic Order – Task Force, 1999'' *''putt the word out – mystro & jargon, 1999 deal real records'' *''

U.S.S.R. Life from the Other Side ''U.S.S.R. Life from the Other Side'' is a 1999 studio album by DJ Vadim, released on Ninja Tune. Critical reception John Bush of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, saying, "Since he's working with rappers on more than half of the tracks ...

–

DJ Vadim Vadim Alexandrovich Peare (russian: Вадим Александрович Пир, Vadim Aleksandrovich Pir ...

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

DJ Vadim Vadim Alexandrovich Peare (russian: Вадим Александрович Пир, Vadim Aleksandrovich Pir ...

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

DJ Vadim Vadim Alexandrovich Peare (russian: Вадим Александрович Пир, Vadim Aleksandrovich Pir ...

, 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 Dented Records is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, and best kno ...

– Foreign Beggars, 2003'' *''Civilians – Dark Circles, 2003'' *'' The World According to RZA – 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 Sway may refer to: Places * Sway, Hampshire, a village and civil parish in the New Forest in England ** Sway railway station, serving the village People * Sway (British musician) (born 1983), British hip hop/grime singer * Sway Calloway (born 1 ...

, 2005'' *''The Whole Nine - Sway, Life & SkinnyMan 2006'' *''U Must Learn - Skinnyman, KRS-One, 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 Botley – Dap C Feat. Skinnyman & S.Kalibre NGU Records, 2006'' *''Down – Lunar C feat. Skinnyman, 2017'' *''Thriller - Fliptrix Feat. Skinnyman (Prod. Joe Corfield) High Focus Records, 2019'' *''Jack - RATS feat. Skinnyman, When I Say Run Records, 2019'' *''All In Together - Ricky Lix Feat. Cappadonna, Skinnyman & Harry Ixer (2021)'' *''TrueMendous - Yourself or The World? Feat. Skinnyman (Prod. Illinformed) High Focus Records, 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