The quiet force of the rising Atlanta rap collective wants you to know he isn\u2019t \u201cyour typical dumb rapper.\u201d He strives to be the biggest musician in the world \u2014 as long as he can still go to the movie theater.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Words by Elaina Bernstein \nPhoto by Elijah Prudent \nVideo by Luke Roberts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Growing up, Sk8star didn\u2019t want to be a musician. The \u00d8WAY rapper wanted to be an activist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to make a difference,\u201d he tells me, his grandfather regularly taking him to visit museums and historic landmarks in Alabama and Georgia when he was younger. \u201cI still do, but I have to figure out what that means to me in this day and age.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has a tattoo of the word \u201crebel\u201d on his neck, the one word he believes not only fuels his own discography, but the ethos of \u00d8WAY as a whole; the group\u2019s name is led by a slashed Nordic \u201cO\u201d letter to signify opposition to oppression. \u201cEveryone in \u00d8WAY stands for the same thing: pushing what we believe in, and the betterment of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside Tezzus, Pz\u2019, Yung Fazo, and diamond* \u2013 who sat down with Hypebeast a few weeks ago \u2013 the rapper comprises the collective\u2019s core unit. While some might deem him an underdog, Sk8 calls himself the \u201cglue\u201d of the group, pointing out he often pulls up on a track for a quick verse or just a chorus. \u201cYou can put me in anywhere, and I\u2019ll get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tracks like \u201cDouble C\u201d with Pz\u2019, \u201c3 Wishes\u201d with diamond* and \u201cShawtyRokk\u201d with Lil Gotit prove just that, but it\u2019s his newest project, The Beautiful Rebellion<\/em>, that really cements his malleability. Across its eight tracks (and just 16 minutes), the project is a trap-infused trip, Sk8\u2019s pen syncing with hypnotic production, guided by a clear Young Thug influence. \u201cYou got to know the culture, and I definitely did my homework on the culture.\u201d When he\u2019s not hitting the ATL history books, you can probably Sk8 at the Gucci store, but you can definitely find him at the movie theater. That\u2019s his favorite place.<\/p>\n
Other words Sk8 uses to describe himself are \u201cempath\u201d and \u201creserved\u201d \u2014 though he quickly concedes the latter with being \u201cjust as conceited as the next person.\u201d<\/p>\n
But ultimately, he doesn\u2019t care what you call him. With aspirations of being the biggest musician in the world, he ultimately really just wants you \u201cto look at [him] like, he\u2019s not your typical dumb rapper.\u201d<\/p>\n
After our conversation, I can confirm he\u2019s far from \u201cyour typical dumb rapper.\u201d He starts most of his studio sessions by talking to everyone in the room for an hour, and his dream \u201cvacation\u201d right now is heading back to roots to visit his grandmother\u2019s house. He prefers \u201cthe real world\u201d to the superstar life. In a sprawling Friday afternoon chat, Sk8 reflects on his rebellious side, which starts with his song lyrics and fashion sense, and bleeds all the way into his Letterboxd reviews.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Are you in New York often? What do you like to do when you\u2019re in town? <\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019m always out here now. The flight\u2019s so quick from Atlanta. I actually have a love-hate relationship with New York City, though, primarily because of the weather. But I do love a bacon, egg \u2014 well, I don\u2019t eat cheese like that anymore, but I love a bacon, egg, hash brown, croissant from the deli. Always with an orange juice or apple juice to drink.<\/p>\n
Where can we find you when you\u2019re here? <\/strong><\/p>\n
When I\u2019m in the city, I always go to Luke\u2019s. I go to 4G. I haven\u2019t had time for any shopping this trip, but any luxury store is where you can find me \u2014 Gucci, of course. The last time I came out here, I got some $1,000 USD Gucci loafers that I still haven\u2019t worn. I just be doing shit, bro. I love to go fragrance shopping here, too. What I really want to do in New York City this year is go to a Knicks game.<\/p>\n
Speaking of NYC, despite being Atlanta-based, \u00d8WAY has been able to significantly stamp its influence in New York City.<\/strong><\/p>\n
For sure. We\u2019ve really put some groundwork down in New York City. In our broke, early days on camera, we were filming in New York. We\u2019ve done a lot in New York. I have a lot of love for this city, and I love doing shows out here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m not the biggest talker, so I love expressing myself through clothes.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Now moving beyond New York, \u00d8WAY has been around the world this summer. Let\u2019s start with Paris Fashion Week. How was that?<\/strong><\/p>\n
It was hot as fuck in Paris. [laughs]<\/em> Tezzus, diamond* and I are just dripping in sweat in every single picture. It\u2019s so bad. But it was so fun. It was such a beautiful experience, and I\u2019m glad I got to go, because it showed me that I have a way wider audience than I thought.<\/p>\n
Did you travel anywhere else this summer?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I went to London, Switzerland, and Germany. I\u2019m going to Japan for the first time. I have a show out there. I\u2019m definitely going to do a lot of shopping. I\u2019m really travelling more than I\u2019ve ever traveled before. I\u2019ve been living at the airport. It took some adjusting, but it\u2019s cool. I\u2019m getting used to it. It\u2019s the superstar life.<\/p>\n
Has fashion always been something that you\u2019ve sort of been tapped into?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always been into fashion. Fashion is fun. Even when I couldn\u2019t afford clothes, I was always looking at clothes, so when I finally got some money, I already knew exactly what I wanted. But as I get older, I\u2019ve been getting more into old n****a shit like loafers and polos. I like fashion because you can express yourself in so many different ways without even talking. I\u2019m not the biggest talker, so I love expressing myself through clothes.<\/p>\n
I feel like you\u2019re like the member of the group who is most behind the spotlight. Do you agree with that?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Sometimes. It\u2019s weird because no one likes that. No one in \u00d8WAY really allows me to be behind the spotlight. My friends will just push me in front of the spotlight, so I can\u2019t really escape it. [laughs]<\/em> I\u2019m a reserved person, but I\u2019m just as conceited as the next person if I\u2019m being honest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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If you had to describe your sound in your own words, how would you do so?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I tell people it\u2019s tasteful. Sexy. Vibey. Something for everybody.<\/p>\n
Where does your sound fit within the rest of the \u00d8WAY universe?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019m the glue of \u00d8WAY, in a way. You can put me anywhere, and I\u2019ll fit in. You\u2019ll notice that on a lot of songs, I\u2019m just on the hook. Sometimes I\u2019ll do just a chorus or just a verse. I can do whatever job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the glue of \u00d8WAY.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n
For those who don\u2019t know: what does \u00d8WAY stand for?<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00d8WAY is about standing against oppression, so that\u2019s why there\u2019s a cross over the letter O in the name. I have the word \u201crebel\u201d tattooed on my neck that I got way before I met any of the guys, and that one word sums up both my energy and the \u00d8WAY energy. Everyone in \u00d8WAY stands for the same thing: pushing what we believe in, and the betterment of our people.<\/p>\n
When did you get the \u201crebel\u201d tattoo and what\u2019s the story behind it?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I got this shit when I was 19, maybe younger, on a random day with my friend. I lowkey don\u2019t like the font. It was random as fuck. If I could cover it up, I would, but no one will cover it because everyone likes it.<\/p>\n
When you were growing up, you wanted to be an activist, which is something you speak on often. Tell us more about that \u201crebellious\u201d part of your personality and how it influences your music.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always been this way. When I was a kid, my granddad would take me, my brothers, and my cousins to civil rights museums and historic towns in Alabama and Georgia. He\u2019d stop the car and show us where certain marches happened, and it just stuck with me. I\u2019ve always wanted to make a difference, and I still do, but I have to figure out what that means to me in this day and age. I think that part of me reflects in my music, but not as much as I want it to yet. I have big plans to give back that will be clearer in the future. I definitely haven\u2019t given up on a variation of that dream \u2014 maybe not a full-fledged activist, but I\u2019m very much still in that mindset.<\/p>\n
Which artists defined your upbringing in Atlanta?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Everybody knows my favorite rapper is Young Thug. That\u2019s probably never going to change. Pluto, Future, Lil Wayne. Wayne was so influential to a lot of kids. He\u2019s probably why everybody, myself included, ended up getting locks and tattoos. The offspring of the early YSL, like Lil Keed, may he rest in peace, and Lil Gotit. Of course the bigger artists too, like T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz. Rich Kidz were big in Atlanta. Everybody that you could damn near think of, they influenced me in some way. All of them played pivotal parts in shaping the culture. You got to know the culture, and I definitely did my homework on the culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The \u00d8WAY come up has been one of the quickest in recent hip hop history. You guys met just over a year ago. What have been some of your \u201cI made it\u201d moments in the past year?<\/strong><\/p>\n
There are a few of them. Even just from the end of 2025 into 2026 alone. Meeting Thug was huge. Teezus, diamond*, and I all met him at the same time just about a year ago now. It was right before I made \u201cShawtyRokk\u201d and we played him music and kicked it. That was a pivotal moment. My album Designer Junkie<\/em> was a pivotal moment, and doing the release party in New York. Performing our first Summer Smash this year. Paris Fashion Week and the 424 show. One night in Paris, diamond*, Tezzus, and I were in the smoke room at the club, and Quavo and Lil Baby walked in. I was like, \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d We were just in there smoking with Lil Baby and Quavo. We walked out, and there was Tyler Herro and Aaron Gordon. A room full of millionaires. diamond* and I were like, \u201cWe got a couple more levels to go, but we\u2019re getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I spoke about this with diamond* too, but it has to be so special to get to do all of these crazy things with the same people you came up with.<\/strong><\/p>\n
It\u2019s super special. We\u2019re a rare collective because it\u2019s not a common thing for multiple people in a group to be big deals. It\u2019s cool for us to all get the same looks because it shows that we\u2019re running this shit. It\u2019s beautiful to see all of us as the main character.<\/p>\n
Speaking of main characters \u2014 you love movies, something a lot of people might not know about you. Tell me more about your connection to movies.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019m busy all the time, I don\u2019t watch as many movies. Well, actually I\u2019m lying. I watch a lot of movies on the plane now, like an old man. The last movie I watched on the airplane was this Sydney Sweeney movie about her being a maid or some shit. That shit had me hooked. I was coming back from Belgium \u2014 another country I went to this summer. I was in Brussels, and the flight back to Los Angeles is 13 hours, so I watched The Housemaid<\/em> and fucking Sinners<\/em>. I just wanted to watch Sinners that day. <\/p>\n
I get a lot of inspiration from my movies because I feel like they are time capsules. The world will never look like that again, so I like to watch it just to see how people moved, what they wore, all of that. I love going to the movie theater, so I hope that when I become the biggest in the world, they still let me go to the movies and leave me alone. I just want to see my movies, man.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re a rare collective because it\u2019s not a common thing for multiple people out of the group to be like big deals. We\u2019re running this shit. It\u2019s beautiful to see all of us are the main character.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What other movies have you watched recently?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I just watched this one Shia LaBeouf movie when I was getting my hair done called Disturbia<\/em>. I also just watched Spider-Man<\/em>. I loved it. I\u2019m not even the biggest Marvel guy. I\u2019m more like a Hypebeast Marvel guy, actually, like when it\u2019s time for Endgame<\/em> or that type of shit, I\u2019m outside.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your favorite movie?<\/strong><\/p>\n
My favorite movie ever is Trainspotting<\/em>. I draw a lot of inspo from that movie. I haven\u2019t really put too much of that movie in my music or into my rollouts yet because I\u2019ve been saving it for the right time. If anybody steals that idea, they know they got it from Sk8star, and I\u2019m coming for you, because I\u2019ve been saying this for years. I love a lot of older movies. Trippy shit like Enter the Void<\/em>, which is another Trainspotting<\/em> type of movie. All of your typical hood movies \u2014 Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, Juice, Don\u2019t Be a Menace, Friday, Next Friday, Friday After Next<\/em>.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s a movie you believe to be underrated?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s pull up the Letterboxd, so you know I\u2019m being deadass. What Happens in Vegas<\/em> with Ashton Kutcher. I fuck with that movie, man. I watched that movie actually like 3:00 in the morning. I was high as fuck, and it came on. I loved Oldboy<\/em>, which is a Korean movie. I liked Requiem for a Dream<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Do you have any guilty pleasure movies?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I love all of the clich\u00e9 white boy movies, like the Jonah Hills, the Seth Rogens. I watch all that shit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to look at me like, \u2018Damn, he\u2019s not your typical dumb rapper.\u2019\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n
What\u2019s a movie that makes you cry?<\/strong><\/p>\n
This movie that used to come on Disney Channel when I was a kid called The Color of Friendship<\/em>. That shit actually made me cry when I was a kid. Titanic<\/em> was pretty sad. I didn\u2019t cry, but I was just like, \u201cDamn.\u201d There are a few movies that make me kind of cry. I ain\u2019t going to lie. I\u2019m an empath.<\/p>\n
If your life was a movie, what would it be called?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Life of a Rebel.<\/em><\/p>\n
And if someone were to play you in that movie, who would you want it to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Fucking hell. If someone had to play me, they\u2019ve got to get it right. My auntie and my mom think I resemble Luka Sabbat. It\u2019s crazy as fuck. I think it might be the mustache. So it\u2019d either be him, or you\u2019d have to get Michael B. Jordan to really get the picture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Where else are you drawing creative inspiration from?<\/strong><\/p>\n
From all over the place. I\u2019ve been trying to desensitize myself a little bit from the usual ways I get inspired. I\u2019ve been trying to go back to being outside. I\u2019ve been wanting to go to my grandma\u2019s house in the country. I haven\u2019t done it yet, but I feel like that\u2019s what I need right now because I\u2019ve been living so Hollywood. I want to go back to my roots. <\/p>\n
I talk to my mom and childhood friends who still have normal jobs and deal with everyday, real-world problems. I try to take myself outside the box I\u2019m in, because a lot of people don\u2019t understand this world. I might start my studio session by talking to everybody for an hour. I\u2019ll go back and forth with people about anything. I try to get really infatuated with the real, everyday life of an American. The real world.<\/p>\n
How do you stay grounded and focused while coming up so quickly?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been broke before, and I never want to be that again. That\u2019s how I stay focused. But in terms of how I stay grounded, every member of \u00d8WAY is a real human being. There are a lot of guys in the underground who know nothing real, and all they know is the internet or being in the house. We\u2019re the opposite. We\u2019re outside. We\u2019ve lived life for real. No one wants to be around a jackass. You never want to be a fuck n****a, so we stay grounded by remembering that we\u2019re real people and we want to be legends while still being looked at as real, honorable men. I walk with that on my sleeve every day, knowing I want you to look at me like, \u201cDamn, he\u2019s not your typical dumb rapper.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next for \u00d8WAY?<\/strong><\/p>\n
We\u2019re going to be the new mainstream. We\u2019re going to be the new faces of rap. It\u2019s already written.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n