When talking about musicians who bring a different vibe to rap music, names like Eminem, Lil Wayne, and a host of others come up. However, one name that would almost always be linked with a completely odd genre of rap is Skitz Kraven.
The American rapper took his life experiences and misfortunes and turned them into something explosive. With him introducing the ‘horrorcore’ style of music, a lot of rap lovers are beginning to relate to the sound.
Skitz is one of the many rappers in the American music industry who made music out of his lowest points in life. With lyrics, many would describe as gruesome or sinister, Kraven has been able to unleash a new form of music for lovers of rap and horror.
He has released projects such as ‘Eerie Sh!t’, ‘Black Snow’, and ‘Auto On the Low’. The rapper is also a businessman as there is a Skitz Kraven store where accessories and clothing are available for purchase.
His Real Name is not Skitz Kraven
He may be popular with the name Skitz Kraven but that is certainly not his real name. The young man was born on the 9th day of July 1994 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, USA, and named Evan D. Kijek.
He grew up in a closely-knit family and was well educated to the High School level. While growing up, Kijek was surrounded by guardians who were basically his uncles, aunts, and grandparents.
You should know these 10 Facts about Skitz Kraven
1. His father was also a Musician
Kijek’s father, the older Kijek, is a musician and has been all his life. According to Kraven, he breathed music and strongly wanted to inculcate that into his child. Skitz’s mother was not into music though and she was never really bothered if her son would be a musician or not.
Skitz then grew up to love music as his father wanted and went on to pursue a career in art.
2. Skitz Kraven’s Love for music started at a Young Age
The 30 year old’s love for music stemmed from when he was very young. From the age of 4, he had already started learning how to play instruments and as he got older, he began to sing and rap.
Kraven started honing his skills with recitals and entering talent shows. Soon, he and everyone around him realized he was born for music and he was encouraged. He however did not make it big until his ‘Black Snow’ album. Most of the support he got at the time was from back home and this was when the music started paying him.
When Skitz put out his hit single ‘Magic’ it attracted a huge fan base that continues to grow. Blogs began to carry his songs and stories about him and more people began to know him. His song even trended on the famous social media platform known as Tik Tok.
3. Some Artists he Looks up to
As a young child surrounded by music, Skitz first fell in love with Michael Jackson. He idolized the singer so much and was hooked on all his songs and performances then.
However, growing up and realizing his niche was in rap, his preferences began to widen. Now, Skitz loves the music of the likes of Eminem, Lil Wayne, and Gucci Mane.
4. Skitz Kraven was Diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder
When Evan was in the 7th grade, he first noticed that he had anger issues. He got suspended for nudging his class teacher after she tried intervening in an altercation he had with a classmate.
After this episode, he did not have any other outbursts that were over the top. However, sometime in his sophomore year, things began to spiral out of control. People began to notice a strangeness in his behavior and became worried.
The rapper was subsequently diagnosed with a mental disorder. The illness he was diagnosed with is called ‘Intermittent Explosive Disorder. In addition to this, he also suffered from bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety. Skitz was put on medications but they seemed to only worsen his situation.
He then began to battle these disorders from his late teenage years. At this point, he was mostly close to his girlfriend and friends and was focused on just those.
The sickness got so bad that Skitz began to move from home to home, and from psychiatric institution to another. He also got arrested one time for being too violent. The rapper admitted that when he suffered from these feats of rage, he would blank out and not be able to remember what he did.
His condition got so bad that Kraven was even administered a horse tranquilizer to calm him down. Although Schizophrenia was ruled out of his list of disorders, Skitz said that he could hear voices.
These voices always used to come to him during his downtimes and not positive times. He was even suicidal at a point but said his attempt at suicide was more of a call for help than actually wanting to hurt himself. His dark thoughts were mostly geared towards hurting others and not himself.
5. How he got his Stage Name
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The ‘That’s All’ rapper said he got his name ‘Skitz’ from his life issues. While facing his demons and whenever he has a feat, his family and friends would say he was going ‘skitz’.
Eventually, they began to call him Skitz and the name stuck. He also adopted it as a means of identifying with his battles and remembering the demons he faced.
6. Skitz Kraven Dealt Drugs
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From his teenage days, the rap artist dealt with drugs. He used to sell and use drugs and became addicted to heroin and other hard substances. When asked what pushed him into doing drugs, he responded with ‘nothing.’
Kraven stated that at that time of his life, he was at his lowest and nothing mattered. He was passed a blunt, he didn’t reject and so he picked up the habit. However, Kraven said that he did everything drug-related except injecting himself.
7. The Horror Rapper Slept in Parks
Evan D Kijek at a point in his life moved from being tossed from home to home to being homeless. Sometime between the ages of 17 to 19, he slept in the park as he didn’t have a home.
Kraven was already a drug addict whose primary source of income was selling drugs. However, he was also trapping and that fetched him money which he squandered on drugs.
At the age of 19, the young man moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in rap. He thought getting away from his hometown was going to save him from his addiction but it only worsened it.
The move however helped his music career as he began to record and push his music. It was quite difficult but Kijek eventually got his big break.
READ ALSO: Rigo Tovar; Life and Death of the Mexican Musician- 5 Facts
8. What was Skitz Kraven’s Inspiration for going into Horrorcore?
While facing his demons and battles, Skitz found solace in the darkness. He would return to watch horror movies after he had an outburst. Kraven admitted that this was the only way he got out of situations.
Horrorcore artist, Skitz started writing down dark themes which were converted into poems and eventually modified to music lyrics. He considers himself a hybrid of Eminem, Wayne, Gucci Mane, Stephen King, and Tim Burton.
Growing up, he felt the need to incorporate horror with hip-hop but in a mild way.
9. Music Saved Him
At the time when Skitz Kraven was low, depressed, and almost suicidal, he got deep into music. He started making music as a means to try and escape his reality.
In like vein, Kraven was trying to become sober and quit his addiction. So, in order to escape his bad habits, Skitz turned to music. Luckily, music did the magic and when he started getting love from his fans, he started gaining faith.
The music and love from the fans gave him a reason to replace his use of drugs. He was then able to invest most of his time in making music and giving his fans more music.
Evan confessed that he wasn’t really able to tell what he was going through until he started to do music.
10. Skitz Kraven can be tagged the Marilyn Mason of Hip-hop
The ‘Black Snow’ artist can be described as the Marilyn Mason of hip-hop because he is versatile. Kraven Skitz is one artist who is capable of making radio/club music, r&b music as well as pop music. He is one who can ‘do it all’ and is the master of all genres.
