Following eight major surgeries and nearly a decade away from music, the veteran rapper embraces his alter ego while raising awareness of recurrent collapsed lungs
Veteran rapper SKIP-DAWG steps back into his most confident persona with latest single ‘Lyrical Playboy’, a sleek and seductive rap-R&B duet exploring the divide between the man behind the music and the larger-than-life character who emerges when he picks up the mic.
Blending introspective rap verses with a sensual R&B hook and touches of alternative rock, ‘Lyrical Playboy’ brings a cinematic edge to SKIP-DAWG’s sound while reflecting on his return to music after nearly a decade away.
“‘Lyrical Playboy’ is really about the two sides of me,” SKIP-DAWG explains. “There’s the regular person I am in everyday life, and then there’s SKIP-DAWG, a more confident and expressive version of myself that comes out through the music.”
His return carries extraordinary weight. Having already released five albums, SKIP-DAWG’s career was brought to an abrupt halt by a life-threatening lung condition. After suffering more than 20 collapsed lungs and undergoing eight major lung surgeries, he spent close to a decade away from recording. He continues to live with significant nerve damage and severe chronic chest pain following his surgeries.
Now, SKIP-DAWG is also using his platform to raise awareness of what he refers to as Bleb Disease and the life-altering experiences of recurrent collapsed lung sufferers.
“After living with Bleb Disease for 20 years, after having tried an extraordinary number of measures to manage my chronic health and lung issues, and now after having read thousands of personal accounts astonishingly similar to mine, I feel resolved to speak on behalf of a club that no one wants to belong to: collapsed lung sufferers,” he says.
“Our condition is marked by extraordinary, life-interrupting pain and trauma, from the initial lung collapse to the medical interventions and surgeries, lengthy and painful recoveries, and all-too-frequent complications like nerve damage.”
Through the Collapsed Lung Project and his own personal story, SKIP-DAWG hopes to bring greater visibility to the experiences of people living with recurrent collapsed lungs.
Against that backdrop, ‘Lyrical Playboy’ feels like more than another release. Its mid-tempo production moves between reflection and swagger, while its infectious R&B refrain brings out the playful, confident side of SKIP-DAWG that serious illness forced him to put aside.
Hailing from Havertown, Pennsylvania, SKIP-DAWG has released five albums and seen his music featured across platforms including NBC, the NFL and Grand Theft Auto.
Now, ‘Lyrical Playboy’ finds him reclaiming the confidence, expression and freedom that music has always represented, while using his unlikely comeback to give greater visibility to a community he believes deserves to be heard.
Find out more about SKIP-DAWG’s experience with recurrent collapsed lungs and the awareness campaign through the Collapsed Lung Project and his personal website.
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