“Riot” by Lil Skies
Lil Skies is from a part of Pennsylvania known as Chambersburg. But really, once you venture outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a state that is not known for producing rappers. So the way some analysts have perceived this track (“Riot”) is as Lil Skies, a rapper from the backwoods so to speak, setting out to more firmly establish his name in the game. He had dropped a number of hits during the early stages of his career. So now, the moment was ripe for the rapper to really prove that he was the real deal.
The Boasting
So with that in mind, of course this song is boastful. When it comes to a rapper setting out to prove that he’s a success, at the top of list is boastings related to wealth, which are quite ample in “Riot”. That’s not to say that Lil Skies goes about trying to deceive the audience into believing he’s a billionaire or anything like that. But he does let it be known that he “got a lot of pesos” and is living it up financially.
The Street Cred
Secondly, a rapper has to verify his street credibility. And relatively speaking, this song doesn’t really harp on the topic of violence or drug slanging, though both are notably referred to. In that latter regard, Skies does allude to, as virtually all American rappers do, having at least once been a dealer, back in the day ‘when he was broke’.
Furthermore, as far as being confrontational, a recurring addressee throughout this piece is a rival who the vocalist labels as “a ho” or what have you. Skies also taunts “pretenders”, i.e. other musicians who are not on his level, while advertising himself as a “real rockstar”. Overall, he is letting ‘p**sy nigg*s’ know that if they test him, then his brother will, most simply put, start shooting at them.
The Women
Then of course there is the sex element. In fact all lyrics considered, perhaps the most outstanding parts of this song is when Skies focuses on his sexual exploits. And again, there’s nothing new there. The vocalist presents himself as a heartbreaker, or let’s say someone who is in the privileged position of being totally in control of his romantic destiny, i.e. being able to compel ladies to bend to his will. So for instance, he doesn’t mess around with “basic” women, rather preferring to hook up with “a rich b**ch”.
The Conclusion
With all of that noted, the title of the track is only mentioned once in the lyrics. That’s during the second verse, when the rapper notes that his “gang” be on that “real riot sh*t”. So the title, as relayed, would fit into the street-based aspect of this piece, not pointing to an uproar caused by his music or anything like that.
And as far as this song serving as an announcement of Skies’ permanency on the music scene, well, “Riot” didn’t hit as well as some may have anticipated. But considering that the vocalist doesn’t come from the big city per se, it does a sound job of illustrating that the tenets which define mainstream rap music reach far and wide.
Facts about “Riot”
“Riot” is a track from Lil Skies’ second-studio album, “Unbothered”, a project that had a humble showing on the Billboard 200. And the song itself did manage to chart in New Zealand.
The primary producer of this track, as implied by the intro, is CashMoneyAP, a musician from the French-Caribbean nation of Guadeloupe. The other producer is Neal & Alex, a production duo from Switzerland consisting of Alex Gregory Mullarkey and Joshua Neel Pinter. And those three individuals are also credited as the co-writers of “Riot”, alongside Skies.
The music video to this track was directed by an artist known as LouieKnows.
This track is a product of Atlantic Records, who Skies has apparently been down with since early 2018.
The colorfully-dark cover art to “Riot” is for sale in the form of a facemask via what appears to be an official Lil Skies’ website. Indeed the rapper dropped this song at a time when COVID-19 quarantines were in full effect.
