SKAFFA, UNDERRATED TO SAY THE LEAST.

In a time where hip-hop is making artists earn the craziest amounts of money, with the littlest of effort put into the project, it sometimes makes me feel like - so to say - real music is getting lost. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the easily produced music isn’t real music. But in a way, I do think that it’s losing its charm, sadly. Luckily there are still artists who give me the feeling of putting in all the effort when creating their music. One of these is a Netherlands-based individual named Skaffa.

Skaffa was born in Leningrad, today’s Saint Petersburg in Russia. Living in a writers’ village, his grandma taught him how to write poetry, understand it, and most importantly, recite his words. At the age of five, along with his mother, grandmother, and sister, a young Skaffa fled his hometown for political reasons. Finding their way to the Netherlands seeking asylum. After roughly 2 years they could get situated in Delft, a city based in the province of South Holland.

Although he had the chance of a fresh start, the scars of the Soviet Union would still show. This means, in school, he would be as the Dutch say, “een buiten beentje” (an odd one). But very understandable, if you need to find a way to fit in an environment way different than what you’re used to. Especially as a kid, I can imagine this being a tough time as I experienced something quite similar moving from Paramaribo to Amsterdam.

The beauty of it all is that with all trials and tribulations if you want to, you can use that to your advantage. And that’s exactly what Skaffa did. Taking the poetical lessons from his grandmother, his - hard - life lessons combined with his creative spirit, putting out music that tells his story and inspires the youth not to take the roads he has endured.

“If my eyes are busy, my ears are free.”

His latest asset to his discography is “De Bedoeling”. A song that clarifies what certain actions bring you and maybe most importantly, don’t bring you. Out of experience, I can say that when you’re young some of your actions you’ve already glorified in your head. Only to find out that the aftermath is nothing you want to deal with. And I think Skaffa brought this to life in this song. The lyrics, the concept of the video, and the perfectly selected beat, all contribute to each other tremendously.

Ladies and gentlemen, Skaffa.—