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Despite his successes, hip-hop artist Skem still holds vulnerability and relatability at the core of his craft. Getting his start at rapping through loose freestyles at house parties, Skem began studying modern greats like Kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller, and quickly established himself in Australia's burgeoning underground rap scene with his earnest storytelling. His breakout single 'Time Will Tell' dropped in 2019 and has accumulated over 5 million streams to date; addressing universal themes like addiction and anxiety, and delivering real-life stories of conflicts with police and battling the housing crisis. "Music has always been a form of therapy for me," Skem says. "It was only natural to incorporate events and emotions from things I was going through at the time, and tell stories the same way you might in a conversation." The following year, Skem dropped overcast singles 'No Hope Here' and 'Minutes And Hours', further establishing his profile as one of the underground's quickest rising stars. He received airplay on national radio stations including triple j and CADA, and after the release of 2021 single 'LVST TIME', Spotify Original podcast A1: The Show named him one of the year's best emerging artists on their A1s To Watch list. He also appeared on popular Spotify playlists like Local Hype, The Trot and Beats + Bars. Skem went on to collaborate with underground pioneers like NTER and Huskii, and received co-signs from more mainstream mainstays like Allday and Drapht; showing the broad appeal of his songwriting. In 2023, Skem released his demo tape Oyster Cuts, a rapid left-turn from his existing catalogue that was crafted in collaboration with producer Colourd Noyz. Filled with sprawling and spacey instrumentals, spoken word interludes, obscure samples and scattered arrangements, the four-song effort surprised fans, but still gave them a healthy dose of bars on lead single 'Oyster Cuts.' Sounding galaxies apart from anything in the Australian hip-hop landscape, Oyster Cuts was a clear statement of intent and ambition from Skem, who wants to delve far beyond the walls of hip-hop with his future artistry. "I definitely don't want to be boxed in as a sad rapper, or even as a rapper," he says. "I'm not focused on the artist that I have been to the public, but the artist that I will be."