Singles Spotlight:
Sk8tie – “Cost Me Alot”

Hello reader,

How are you today?

I’m excited to discuss a multi-talented human from Jacksonville, Florida, who is creating great music, among other things: Sk8tie. Khiry Bivins, the man behind the stage name Sk8tie, according to his bio, is “an independent rapper, artist, actor, content creator, and personality from Jacksonville, Florida. Raised in the neighborhood he calls Fairytale Lane, Sk8tie began making music as a teenager after being inspired by the early Atlanta rap movement, including artists like Future, Gucci Mane, T.I., Rich Kids, and Travis Porter. His music is shaped by Southern rap, personal sacrifice, family loss, self-investment, and the belief that everything he has built has come from his own work. After developing a local following in Jacksonville, performing at venues and events including Jacksonville Landing, and building connections across Florida, Atlanta, and Americus, Georgia, Sk8tie continued independently while funding his music through work as a merchant seaman. He now records from a self-built mobile studio and is expanding his creative world across music, acting, short films, streaming, and content.” Sk8tie has more than a handful of singles and two albums to his name so far.

Delving deeper into the past that shaped Bivins, the press release for the single we’re going to spotlight today says the following: “In the Jacksonville neighborhood he calls Fairytale Lane, where streets carry names like Pinocchio, Bo Peep, Tinkerbell, and Goldilocks, the Bivins home became one of the places everyone knew. Friends came over to play video games, eat, run through the yard, and spend long afternoons in a house that felt open to the block. His mother helped make it that way. Before multiple sclerosis gradually took more from her body, she worked at Enterprise Learning Academy, the same elementary school Sk8tie attended, and was a caretaker in the truest sense – someone who made the neighborhood feel like family for everyone who came through. She was also, as Sk8tie remembers, the “candy lady,” selling handmade sundaes out of the house with brownies at the bottom, ice cream in the middle, sprinkles, gummy bears, chocolate, and caramel syrup on top, along with chips, pizza, and whatever else kept the kids coming back.” Sk8tie said, “‘I really never had a childhood. I did, but I didn’t, because I always had to take care of my mom.’” Still, he does not look back on that time with bitterness. Those experiences shaped him, and he says he would not change them for anything.”  His mom passed away when he was 14, before he started high school.

The press release further goes into Sk8tie’s story, saying, “Around that same time, music came into his life with a force he still remembers. His older brother Rashad returned from Atlanta’s Birthday Bash with a CD full of artists who were still rising at the time: Future, Gucci Mane, T.I., Rich Kids, Travis Porter, and others who were helping define a new Southern energy before the rest of the industry fully caught up. What struck Sk8tie was the freedom of it. The music felt loose, stylish, self-made, and alive. ‘They brought the fun into it,’ he says. ‘You could be yourself, have fun, dress how you want to dress, and talk however you want to talk.’ For Sk8tie, that discovery became a doorway. Music gave him a place to put feelings he didn’t know how to say directly. ‘Music always been a way for me to escape,’ he says. ‘Whenever I make music, it’s a gateway for me to show the feelings I couldn’t express in reality.'”

The release continues, “From there, Sk8tie built from the ground up. His brother acted as a kind of manager, helping him record songs, make videos, post on YouTube, and develop a small but real local following. Girls at school knew the songs. Friends and fans made signs. People recognized him at the mall. His brother shot and edited videos because they could not afford a videographer. Sk8tie performed wherever he could: teen clubs, house parties, foam parties, Jacksonville Landing, local events, and shows connected to DJs and artists moving through the city. As a solo artist, he kept building connections across Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Americus, Georgia, where his family is from. He crossed paths with artists including Trap Beckham and Tokyo Jetz, worked in the studio on songs with Lil Boosie’s camp, connected with Looni, who was signed with Stuey Rock, and more recently linked with Jayy Wick. The network kept expanding, but Sk8tie’s core mentality stayed the same: move independently, put his own money behind the work, and keep going even when the push had to come from himself. To fund that work, Sk8tie became a merchant seaman, taking union jobs on ships and traveling across the world for months at a time. He has worked stretches as long as six months without a day off, moving through places like Greece, Diego Garcia, the Suez Canal, Panama, New York, California, Louisiana, and ports across the country and abroad. ‘Everything I done with my music, I did it on my own,” he says. ‘I spent my own money. Nobody ever invested in me. I invested in myself.’ At sea, he learned discipline and how to stay creatively self-contained. He bought his own recording setup, taught himself how to engineer, and began carrying a mobile studio with him wherever he went. On the ship, in between work and long hours on the water, he could plug in, record, and keep building. These days, he rarely writes lyrics down. He hears a beat, feels whether the energy connects, and records from that place. ‘If I don’t feel the vibration of the song, the energy of the song, I can’t rap it,’ he says. ‘I have to feel it in order for me to express my feelings.'”

When I first read Sk8tie’s story, I knew immediately that I had to share it with the SWT audience as part of the Singles Spotlight series. Then I listened to the song, “Cost Me Alot,” and I had a song to pair with the incredible story. Now that we’ve shared some of his story, let’s look into this specific song.

From the press release for the song, “Cost Me Alot,” Sk8tie said, “Everything costs me a lot. I sacrifice a lot of things for this music. I put my everything in it.” Sacrifice is something all of us humans can relate to as we realize that we’re more alike than different, regardless of skin color, accent, where we grew up, or whether we grew up working-class, middle-class, or somewhere in between, among other factors. The practice of sacrifice is a generational pattern from the distant past to the present. And for those in the music world, the scene requires another level of sacrifice, especially for indie artists, as they are Humans who often make multiple sacrifices for their artistry.

Let’s examine the song now. The opening lyrics lay the foundation, showcasing Sk8tie’s flow and setting the stage for a confident, well-crafted comparison between the haves and have-nots before the bass beats drop and become integral to the melody. The song shifts in tone, becoming reflective, asking questions seeking answers like “Was it worth it or not? / Did it cost you a lot? / If time is all you got.” I think this catchy, contemplative song serves as a great introduction to Sk8tie’s music and artistry. I hope you dig it too.

Press play and hear “Cost Me Alot [Explicit]” for yourself:

The cover artwork for “Cost Me Alot.”

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com