Skacid
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Skacid is a genre of house music from 1988-1989 that is a mix of ska and acid house. The name most probably originates from Longsy D's House Sound 1988 "Mental Ska"[1][2], where the lyrics repeat the word skacid in the second verse when he raps about his new style of "hiphop-reggae". Skacid clearly follows on the heels of the briefly popular hip house genre and borrows from most of hip house's form.
The word "skacid" appears as the name of a few remixes of Longsy D tracks published in 1989, as well as the catalog number/name for Beechwood Music Label's "Ska Beats 1" compilation in 1989 as "SKACID 1LP". This compilation is possibly the only skacid compilation in existence, and it contains skacid recordings by Longsy D, Ranking Roger, Buster Bloodvessel, Ministry of Ska, Double Trouble & The Rebel MC, and Roughneck [3]
[edit] Characteristics
Skacid usually features the signature characteristics of hip house, namely Roland TR-909 drum machine for percussion and a rapping MC vocalist, and sometimes a Roland TB-303 Bassline synth. Skacid often replaced the breakbeat sample with a ska or pitched-up reggae rhythm sample. Though, in the case of Double Trouble & The Rebel MCs "Just Keep Rockin' (House Mix)", the bass intro from "Mr. Big Stuff" by Stax label artist Jean Knight is sampled and pitched/sped up.
The most sophisticated of skacid tracks had melodic horn sections in the same arrangement that a typical ska song would include horns.
[edit] References
- ^ Longsy D's discography on Discogs. http://e.discogs.com/artist/Longsy+D
- ^ Various - Hip House - The Deepest Beats In Town
- ^ Beechwood Music
