Skinnyman

Skinnyman, born Alex Holland, is a rapper from Leeds, United Kingdom, who moves to Finsbury Park in London at a young age. He forms Mud Family with Mongo and Chester P, and the group releases a number of EPs.

Among the best known Mud Family tracks are Itchy Town and Lash Suttin, a reworking of Redman’s Smash Something. He also gains attention in the UK hip-hop scene through radio and press coverage.

After a period of incarceration for dealing marijuana and the collapse of a record deal with Talkin’ Loud/Def Jam UK, he releases his solo album Council Estate of Mind on Lowlife Records in 2004. The album is heavily autobiographical and socially analytical, uses samples from the British film Made in Britain, and enters the UK charts as the highest new entry that week. It receives a positive response from listeners and critics.

Since then, Skinnyman has worked with grime artists including Wiley and Shystie, and appears in the BBC documentary Tower Block Dreams.