SK is a musician from Boston, MA currently working with Sharpline Music Publicity and Quite Great Publicity with a style that lies somewhere at the intersection of hip hop, pop, and R&B. She grew up in NJ listening to her parents’ conflicting musical tastes (imagine Aaron Neville and the Dixie Chicks vs. Lynard Skynard and B.B. King). SK spent her middle school bus days vibing out to Jay Z and 50 Cent. She got her start by writing down lyrics from my favorite rappers and singers, rehearsing them in my bedroom, and performing them in the shower. In high school, she began playing guitar after one of my sisters had started taking lessons and wrote terrible country songs that slowly turned into less terrible country songs.
SK moved to Boston to study math and economics at MIT. At the time, her passion was running. She ran cross country and track & field and was a regional champion and record holder, an All-American, and a team captain. But she never felt successful. She was diagnosed with compartment syndrome during her freshman year, which limited the blood flow below her knees. SK had four surgeries and ran through the injury but never reached the level of accomplishment she felt she had worked for. Her junior year she started having mental health problems.
SK never wanted to believe that depression wasn’t something she could personally out-muscle. She wanted to find a way out and music provided her with that. She started taking night classes in music production. She learned how to produce, record, mix, and master in Ableton through a combination of class, online articles, and tons of hours of trial and error.
SK was drawn to hip hop by the lyricism, culture, and history. From Salt N Pepa, PE, and Tupac to today’s artists, listening to hip hop is about listening to someone’s story laid bare—through flow, emotion, style, and lyrics. For SK, a lot of creativity is about not giving a f$!k what people think, but at the same time really listening to everyone who comes your way and learning from what they share with you.