Silkski - Early Years

Early Years

During his adolescence and preteen years, Silkski was known as the kid with the sleepy eyes. People around him would call him sleepy because his eyes use to droop down or appear as if he was high or falling asleep. But at the age of 12 he decided that he wanted a nick-name that sounded cool or slick. He chose the name Silk because older people use to say that he was smooth as Silk; because he had the wavy hair, smooth talk, and swagger with the way he dressed. Although he liked the name Slick, he decided to go with Silk because it was cool, sounded slick, and at the time was original. During the early stages of hip-hop; b-boys, emcees, d-jays and graffiti artist were giving themselves nick-names with a common tag at the end; which was a letter of the alphabet or something that gave that individual a swagger that represented a form of expression, a character, or alto ego of themselves. At that time, growing up, he would frequently wear ski jackets, ski hats, beanies, and ski goggles, because of the cold weather in New York; which intern contributed to his persona and ultimately became apart of his name. He put the two words together “Silk and Ski”, and that is what formed the name Silkski.

“The son of a singer and a music rep, Silkski says he has music in his blood. When your father is a R&B and doo wop singer and your mother is in music promotions, you naturally grow up with a feel for the industry," said Silkski; but even though Silkski’s family is so well connected in the music world, it is not what got him his start; just the opposite, really. “She (Silkski’s mom) tried to keep me in the nice area”, said Silkski, “but I went the other way.”” Silkski enjoyed the grimey life and cringed away from the luxuries his mother provided. He adopted all of the elements of hip hop in its early stages (b-boy, d-jaying, graffiti tagging, and emceeing), rebelling against his parents' R&B, disco, and Doo Wop music.

Silkski would rebel against most of everything his mother would say, cut school and sneak into the movies in Time Square on 42nd street or Broadway; jump on back of moving commercial trucks to get a tow home; hop the train; and would often Hang ten on the subways that went over 100 miles an hour between stops. On the A train express that went non-stop from 59th Street in mid-town Manhattan to 125th Street and Broadway in Harlem; he would hang off the back of the train on the last car for a thrill ride, holding on to nothing but the door knob with his feet barely touching the platform. With his stunts and rebelliousness, it led to one of the most defining moments in Silkski’s life; his mother turned him over to the state. “I felt like no one cared,” said Silkski. But the group home he was put in was in some ways a blessing; it showed him that there were people who cared about his well being and wanted him to succeed. When his mother came back for him, he refused to go home. His next months consisted of jumping between the streets of New York and the group home (Mount Lorreto) “Mission of the Immaculate Virgin” in Staten Island. Eventually, Silkski left the group home and moved in with his cousin who lived in the roughest area of Jamaica Queens. While in Jamaica Queens, Silkski along with others contributed to the negativity of Queens inner city streets. Although he lived in a grimey area, he stood out with his extreme tagging graffiti techniques and style of dancing, which led him to be nicknamed "Kid Boogie". After moving from his cousin's apartment, Silkski landed on the streets again.

“I told this shelter that I was a "teen" alcoholic so I could get a place to stay,” said Silkski. After several months in the shelter, Silkski moved in with a friend in Harlem and took his dancing to the next level. In Harlem he connected with famed breaker, Larry Love of the Zulu Nation, and changed his dance name, from "Kid Boogie" to "Gangsta Boogie". (This was the time when Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five were presumed the hottest thing in hip hop.) Silkski was right there breaking and tagging with some of the biggest names in the hip hop world. “Even though I was a baby compared to Grand Master Flash, I was still there from the start,” said Silkski. “I knew everybody from the gutter to the top”. Larry Parker (Larry Love), known for the song "Larry's Dance Theme, by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five connected Silkski with the owner of one of the biggest hip hop club in New York at the time, Harlem World; “It was great,” he said, “I was breakin’ on the dance floor all the time, even when the club was closed.” One day while he was practicing his breaking, Kurtis Blow came in to set up for a show later that night. “I was like, ‘Kurtis, check me out,’ and I would just electric boogie,” said Silkski. That night he was on stage dancing for Kurtis Blow. From time to time, Silkski would move to live with his grandparents in Los Angeles, California, going from New York to Los Angeles, back and forth, bringing and taking new hip hop trends with him. In Los Angeles, his good friend and cousin, Dougie D, reunited Silkski with Kurtis Blow, which led Kurtis to take Silkski on a forty city European tour with him. After the tour Silkski continued to work with Kurtis Blow for a number of years. He danced as a member of his crew, was a dee jay at major events, and worked behind the scenes as Kurtis Blow’s producer.

Later in California, Silkski joined Ice-T’s rap group Rhyme Syndicate. He started as a rapper producing his own music, but his beats were considered so good that many artists and record labels wanted him to produce their tracks. He produced songs for the Bloods and Crips’ albums, produced songs for Geffen Records, Def Jam Recordings, PolyGram, Milan Records and was signed to Death Row Records under Char Jones as a producer. While at Death Row Records, at Can-Am Studios in Tarzana, California, he worked with the likes of Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, The Lady of Rage, Kurupt and Daz Dillinger from Tha Dogg Pound, and many others until Tupac Shakur’s untimely passing.