Skillibeng ‘jumps’ for joy at gold certification

Skillibeng is amused about his first gold certification in the US, for his collaborative input on the international hit, ' Jump' featuring global superstars, Tyla and Gunna.

Skillibeng credits the rich "blend of cultures" for the massive global impact of the dynamic track. He told THE STAR that it feels amazing to acquire the achievement.

"As I represent for my country continuously, this just shows what our culture can do," said the Crocodile Teeth artiste. Jump was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) last Tuesday, after surpassing more than 500,000 units in sales/streams.

The Sammy Soso-produced single, which became viral on TikTok following a stream of dance challenge videos, quickly amassed more than 43 million views on YouTube after the track's official video release. Jump also peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Afrobeats Songs Chart and No. 42 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. In the UK, it also sat at No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart, where it spent several weeks in the top 40 spot.

However, Skillibeng said this major milestone goes further than just being his first gold certification.

"It will have a significant effect on those who supported and it will spark the attention of those who probably did not know Skillibeng," he stated. "This will definitely open up the market for the dancehall diaspora ... the artistes just need to realise that they need to capitalise on this opportunity. Not everyone has the Skillibeng impact but our culture has its own impact and we need to embrace that."

The Whap Whap artiste performed the single alongside Tyla and Gunna at the 2024 BET Awards, and the track has also attained gold status in Canada, New Zealand and Brazil. It was certified silver in the UK and received a platinum certification in South Africa. For Skillibeng, this is one of his most major musical wins.

"Yes I would say it's one of my biggest global collaborative accomplishments especially because of the artistes I collaborated with, Tyla and Gunna. They are mainstream artistes who have undeniable talent and it was a pleasure to work with them," he said.

"The partnership of three different cultures is what I think made this happen, as I'm from the Caribbean, Tyla is African and Gunna is American, creating the perfect blend of cultures [and] allowing the song, which is a masterpiece, to have the perfect reach," he added.

Adding to his mastery in making great international collaborations, another of his recent masterpieces, the Shake It To The Max (Fly) remix with Shenseea and Ghanaian singer Moliy has been garnering a wide amount of viewership and merits. It is also recognised globally as a popular chart-topper. He described the musical merger as "an absolute banger".

"I love it and so does the world. Feels great to be a part of the magic," said Skillibeng.

Though he's trending internationally, topping several awards, receiving accolades and steadily balancing his musical relevance locally, Skillibeng promised that the best of him is yet to come.

"I've only just begun. I've never been easily distracted from music, this is because I genuinely love music and cannot live without creating," he said.

On that note, while being truly motivated by his passion to create, his recent track Dada has already been picking up traction since its video release on Monday.

"The inspiration behind Dada was the beat. It had a sound I was looking for. Dada is the first track released from my highly anticipated EP called Skillibeng International which is basically [me] using different types of beats from different cultures, mixing them with the Jamaican dialect (Patois) as an experiment to show diversity as a creator," said Skillibeng.