“Ok” by Lil Skies
“Ok” starts off as a braggadocious song with a confrontational undertone – a framework the vocalist sticks to pretty much throughout. Lil Skies is by and large addressing someone who is obviously his rival, perhaps due to the fact that Skies is “f—-ng his b–ch”. Lil also threatens to enlist his thugs in the name of ‘shooting’ this unidentified person’s “little brother”. But all things considered, he likely isn’t speaking of anyone in particular but rather said individual being akin to a personification of all of his rivals. So what the rapper is doing is touting his superiority over them.
Basically, the rest of the lengthy first verse – and song in general – serves the purpose of Skies illustrating that he’s the man. For instance, he revels in having groupies whom he can sexually exploit. He also shouts out the fact that there’s ‘tattoos all on his body’, which in his eyes is obviously an outstanding attribute.
And as the passage progresses, the idea that Skies may be addressing some rivals in particular comes off as being more credible. But again, it isn’t so much about the rapper trying to shake someone as it is shaking everyone. In other words, the main point of such assertions is to show or illustrate that he is a consistent gun-toter, one who has no qualms in resorting to the gat. And Lil Skies does indeed comes off as a very naughty boy in the process, one who is largely preoccupied with sex and violence.
First and Second Verses
In the first verse, the vocalist also namedrops a few other celebrities. One is Fivio Foreign, who is apparently being acknowledged due to his dancing skills. Another is NBA star Kyrie Irving. And Skies uses the fact that Kyrie is a professional basketballer to point to his own “ballin’” skills. But of course in the world of hip-hop, claiming that you’re “ballin’” is another way of saying that you’re on top of the game. In that regard, Lil follows up that metaphor by referencing mafia don John Gotti, with the vocalist claiming that he likewise is a “big boss”.
The second verse starts off with a couple of other celebrity references. First is an acknowledgement of the late rapper Big Pun, whom Skies is comparing his own “lyrical” skills to. Then he gives a shoutout to Cole Bennett, a popular rap-music video director and proprietor of the “Lyrical Lemonade” brand, who has worked numerous times with Skies.
Next, the vocalist gets back bragging about his wealth. And the way Skies puts it, he has to chase paper, as he’s the type who “can’t settle… for minimum wage”. And to reiterate, the vocalist’s confidence is largely grounded in him being a celebrity and having more wealth than the next man.
Takeaway
So at the end of the day, perhaps it can be said this is the type of song that only a fan of mainstream music and furthermore someone who appreciates Lil Skies’ artistry can truly appreciate. Other listeners who do not fall into one of those categories could probably instead grow weary of a vocalist spending over two minutes biggin’ up himself and threatening to kill his enemies.
But ultimately, Skies does achieve the purpose of presenting his life as an enviable one. That is to say that it’d be hard for another “young n–ga” in his age group not to appreciate not to look up to a peer that reportedly has money, women and protection akin to that of a major celebrity.
Lil Skies
Lil Skies is a rapper from Pennsylvania who started off self-releasing mixtapes in his teens. Apparently, somewhere along the line he started his own label called All We Got. That entity was legitimized when he used it to sign with Atlantic Records in 2017.
“Ok”
“Ok” is from Lil Skies’ second-studio album, “Unbothered”, which is a product of All We Got and Atlantic Records. It was released as the LP’s fourth single on 16 December 2020.
Skies wrote “Ok” himself, and the track was produced by Buddah Bless, a behind-the-scenes’ man who has worked with the likes of Drake, Future and Megan Thee Stallion.
