The Real Skitso Connects Buffalo To Kokane & Project Pat

Buffalo has become one of Hip-Hop’s most respected modern strongholds, but The Real Skitso is approaching the city’s musical renaissance from a different direction.

Raised on Buffalo’s East Side, Skitso identifies as a producer as much as an MC. His influences include Gang Starr, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre and Pete Rock, and his catalog reflects an ambition to reach beyond regional boundaries. His “Well Connected” collaboration brought him together with West Coast veterans Kokane and Tha Eastsidaz, while “Fired Up” connected him with Memphis legend Project Pat. “Well Connected” also received a television premiere through BET Jams’ Mixtape Playlist.

Those relationships have become more than strategic features. Skitso says working with Kokane unexpectedly turned into mentorship and an invitation into the veteran artist’s Bud E Boy family. Bud E Boy Music currently lists Skitso among its roster of artists.

During a conversation with AllHipHop’s DJ Thoro, The Real Skitso talked about Buffalo’s gritty sound, his Gang Starr awakening, Project Pat, linking with Kokane, old-school production and why he would rather let listeners decide whether he has bars.

AllHipHop: You’re from Buffalo. I call Buffalo the home of the spitters. Everybody knows about Griselda and all that. Buffalo has a sound. Where do you fit in that spectrum? What’s the scene like out there?

The Real Skitso: It’s gritty. It’s rough and gritty. That’s the sound.

AllHipHop: Being out in Buffalo, where did you draw your inspiration from? How did you even start doing music?

The Real Skitso: Gang Starr, man. Gang Starr. Full Clip, man.

AllHipHop: I’m not mad at that. You’re talking Hip-Hop, so I know what lane we’re going down right now. Rest in peace Guru. What was it about that sound for you?

The Real Skitso: Listening to Premier made me want to make beats. I’m a producer at heart.

AllHipHop: So let’s talk about the music. What do you have out right now?

The Real Skitso: I got “Fired Up” out right now, featuring OG Project Pat. It’s going dumb right now. And I also got “Well Connected” featuring Kokane out right now.

AllHipHop: Those are some wild combinations. You’re from Buffalo, Kokane is West Coast and Project Pat is Memphis. Let’s start with Project Pat. How does a guy from Buffalo end up working with Project Pat?

The Real Skitso: I just reached out.

AllHipHop: Just like that?

The Real Skitso: Yeah. Project Pat is one of my favorite Southern artists.

AllHipHop: What about Kokane? He spoke highly of you. How did that relationship happen?

The Real Skitso: The track I got with Tha Eastsidaz, I was thinking about somebody who could do an ill hook, and not many people can do hooks like Kokane. So I thought of him and reached out.

We made it happen. He told me to fly down and do the video. We did the video and, man, we made magic.

AllHipHop: But you did more than make a record. From that collaboration, Kokane wanted to start rocking with you. Were you expecting that, or did you think it was going to be a feature and everybody kept moving?

The Real Skitso: To be honest, I completely didn’t know that was going to happen. It just happened out of the blue.

After that video, he was like, “Yo, man, I like the style. I like what you’re doing. I want you to be with the family.”

I’m like, “Word.”

I’m more than honored, man. It’s an honor and a blessing at the same time. So I got down and hit the ground running.

AllHipHop: When it comes to your music, do you consider yourself a lyricist, storyteller, activist? What are you?

The Real Skitso: I’m a producer at heart, man.

AllHipHop: Producer first?

The Real Skitso: Producer at heart. Like I said, DJ Premier made me want to make beats. But I spit too. I’m like Pete Rock.

AllHipHop: So you’re a double threat.

The Real Skitso: Yeah.

AllHipHop: What’s the ultimate goal? What are you looking to get out of music?

The Real Skitso: Just make my mark, man. Buffalo. Just a kid from Buffalo.

I ain’t trying to do nothing crazy. I just want to be respected. When you think of The Real Skitso, I want people to say, “Yo, that kid got some heat.”

That’s all I’m trying to do.

AllHipHop: Between producing and spitting, what’s your strongest weapon?

The Real Skitso: Producing.

AllHipHop: You saw the new MPC controversy online. Everybody has an opinion about the equipment now. What do you think?

The Real Skitso: I’m old school. I got an MPC 2500 and stuff, man.

You can make a beat on anything. It ain’t the beat machine. It’s the person. Everybody gets all mixed up with that stuff. If you can make an ill beat, you can make an ill beat. I don’t care what type of equipment you got.

It’s the person creating it. It’s not the machine.

AllHipHop: That’s the producer talking. Who have you produced for outside of yourself?

The Real Skitso: I did a lot of underground artists. ToneyBoi from Buffalo, shout out to my people. My man Dante from Toronto, Canada. Underground heads.

AllHipHop: You’ve also got Cormega in the mix. If you’re touching the stage with Mega, that suggests something. Mega doesn’t let just anybody get up there. Is it safe to say you’ve got bars?

The Real Skitso: I’mma just leave it like this, man. He’s messing with the guy.

AllHipHop: But I’m asking you. Do you have bars?

The Real Skitso: I let the people judge.

AllHipHop: I’m glad you said that, because we have a segment called “On The Spot.” You know what that means?

The Real Skitso: Freestyle?

AllHipHop: You don’t have to freestyle. It means you’re on the spot. You see that spotlight? That’s not the police. That’s you. We need to hear some bars. Something light. Give them a jab and let them know why they need to check for Skitso.

After a little hesitation and some encouragement from the room, Skitso accepts the challenge and launches into a verse centered on dreams of wealth, stocks, yachts, houses on hills and escaping struggle for something bigger.

Kokane stays nearby, listening until Skitso finishes.

AllHipHop: Your man Kokane was standing right there listening. He didn’t go outside until you finished. As soon as you finished, then he went out. You definitely have a hell of a support system. So when somebody hears The Real Skitso for the first time, what should they expect?

The Real Skitso: Just some good old Hip-Hop.

AllHipHop: “Good Old Hip-Hop.” That’s an album title right there. I’m giving titles away up here, man. I might have to charge you.

The Real Skitso: [Laughs.]

AllHipHop: Seriously, that’s a hell of a title.

The Real Skitso: Yeah, definitely.

AllHipHop: Before we go, anything else you want people to know?

The Real Skitso: Just be on the lookout, man. Shout out to the 716. The whole Buffalo. Shout out to Griselda, the whole movement.

AllHipHop: I have one more important Buffalo question before you go. In Buffalo, do they call ketchup “tomato sauce,” or do they say ketchup?

The Real Skitso: No, we say ketchup.

AllHipHop: See, I knew this chick from Buffalo. I said I wanted ketchup and she was like, “No, we say tomato sauce here.”

The Real Skitso: I don’t know about everybody else. I say ketchup. [Laughs.]

AllHipHop: Maybe she was a transplant. Who knows?

For all the connections he is building outside Buffalo, Skitso’s mission remains decidedly uncomplicated. He wants to make records, produce beats and earn respect.

No gimmicks required.

Just, as he puts it, “some good old Hip-Hop.”