SkyDxddy has been one our favorite new artists to follow. She released her latest single, “Medusa,” in November 2024. She’s also gearing up to release her debut full-length album later this year. We were so excited to get the chance to sit down and have a chat with SkyDxddy recently about her upcoming debut, her recent tours and collaborations. Not to mention the huge message she has to share with fans worldwide.

Pre-save “HER” out January 24, 2025: https://skydxddy-traumacore.lnk.to/HER

Hi, my name is Daphne. Is it okay to call you “Sky?”

SkyDxddy: Yes, Sky is fine.

Awesome! I just have a few things I’d like to ask you today, but first off, I had the opportunity to catch you at a concert over the summer. You were opening for Citizen Soldier.

Sky: Yeah!

I am the person that goes to concerts all the time and I was really impressed. For one, a huge thing I noticed. I believe you were playing 2^nd of 4 artists that night. But it seemed to me like at least half of the crowd was there specifically to see you. You have a huge following and seem to really have a huge connection with your fans and that was amazing to see. I was wondering since you have such a huge following and I know you’re very open to your fans. Are there certain things you feel you need to almost pull away and keep private just for your own safety?

Sky: I’m usually pretty open. My girlfriend likes to stay a bit behind the scenes, but for the most part people do know about my romantic life, which kind of just consists of her. I try to be very open about it especially because the main thing I talk about is mental health awareness and being real and authentic as much as I can. I think the only thing I keep super private is just my location, just to keep myself safe in that kind of way. We were just walking my dogs the other day and there was this woman who was outside on her porch and out of nowhere she says “Skydxddy?” It is kind of crazy how it’s gotten to that point. So, unless like I said it has to do with my location, everything else is out in the open. I don’t really mind, and I think it helps people. I think being open is part of why I have such a huge following. They know me, you know?

Right! That’s kind of what I was thinking. You’re very open, but it also seems like a lot of pressure. I saw a lot of people who were so excited to see you and I remember thinking that also must be so overwhelming for you.

Sky: It definitely can be. Since I was really little I kind of wanted this. I grew up in theater. I always wanted to make an impact and be a part of the music scene. At least to be a performing artist. I’ve always wanted it, but it does get to the point where it can be a little overwhelming. I’m lucky because my girlfriend is basically my team, she always comes with me on tour. So, we have little signals I can give her if I’m feeling very overwhelmed, I’ll brush my hair behind my ear. Or if someone’s getting a little too intense with me, she usually comes over and pulls me away. It does get a little intense and I’ve had some experiences which were not that great. Some I wish we could have avoided, but now we make sure every show is barricaded and I’m safe. But it definitely can get overwhelming, but I guess I try to look at the positive side. I really, I come from like nothing and nowhere. (laughing)

No, I definitely understand that.

Sky: It’s really cool coming from a small town in Virginia where you know, everybody knows everybody’s business. But there’s no celebrities and nothing really happens. So, I just feel lucky I’m even at that point in my life. Maybe like 5 or 10 years down the road I’ll feel like I’m adjusted. At this point I just think this is so cool.

I know you said you were in performing arts. That’s something else I was wondering. I know you started out writing, but was that the intent? To actually perform and become a vocalist?

Sky: I didn’t begin writing my heavier stuff until I was in my early 20’s. It was really to help myself process through a lot of trauma that I experienced growing up. Being a young woman, unfortunately we deal with a lot of boundaries being crossed and abuse. I was kind of in a really rough place. My girlfriend actually introduced me to an artist, NF. She said “What if you make your own music like this? What if you did this, but for women?”

I blew it off for a little bit thinking there’s no way I can do that. I was at work one day and these guys started making jokes about consent and the “r” word and stuff and I got so mad. That’s actually when I wrote one of my first songs, “Triggered.” And it just kind of snowballed from that. So, in the beginning, it was like therapy for me to get everything out. I thought this is obviously something that people need as well. I know there are other people out there that have gone through these kinds of things.

I started posting it on TikTok and other social media. I don’t think it was ever the plan if I’m being honest. I wanted to be on Broadway and stay in the theater realm. That’s what I grew up on. It wasn’t until life kind of hit me and I realized maybe I actually can be a rapper and a singer. It’s kind of just went from there and kept going.

That’s really cool actually. Even though I saw you in person, I was listening to your music again. I had listened to your most recent singles, but I actually listened to “Triggered” earlier and it is really powerful. I was really impressed with it. I understood it especially from a female perspective because I have been through stuff too, but I’m also older. I was actually thinking I remember being that age and thinking no one else felt that way or had gone through the same things. I think it’s really cool you have the opportunity to do that and share that with people.

Sky: Thank you. It’s definitely been amazing. Obviously, there’s other artists out there and everyone has the way that they say things. But I kind of pride myself on being able to say the really hard things. That people think that’s not something a female should say because people say we need to keep things like that under wraps.

Right!!

Sky: I used to live in the city, and you couldn’t walk to Starbucks without having some random guy cat call you. Obviously to some people that’s not a big deal, but if you’re a little girl and you’re dealing with that stuff and internalize it. Say you get a restaurant job and are constantly sexually harassed, which is something I’ve dealt with a lot. It really piles up to a point where it shapes your psyche and who you become. I’m not anybody unless I’m my body. It’s toxic and causes girls to think that they don’t have value other than a physical value. You know what I mean?

Yes!

Sky: It’s so toxic and it’s just not good, the world that we live in. We need to remind girls constantly that they’re smart and they’re intelligent and they have ideas. They’re allowed to have hopes and dreams. They’re allowed to speak up and they’re allowed to say no. All of these things that we were kind of bred to not do. We need to kind of hammer that out of them because that’s how change happens.

Right. It totally does. I love that! I get that and I think it’s just amazing that’s the message you’re giving. I definitely remember that. I feel like I still get some of that and I’m in my 40’s. When they’d say you’re not supposed to do that, I remember responding “Who says?” (laughing)

Sky: Exactly! Exactly!

I think for me it took years of having to figure it out. Being able to tell a younger generation that by the way, you can do what you want to. That’s cool, I love that.

Sky: Thank you! (laughing)

I know you said your girlfriend had you listening to NF. Are there any other artists you feel like inspires you?

Sky: Yes. When I first got started, I think I took a lot from my theater background. When you listen to my music you can probably hear that from the story telling. I went through all the phases like Evanescence and Paramore. I was really obsessed with Breaking Benjamin for a little while. Nowadays, I feel like I mostly gravitate towards other rappers. What’s kind of funny is I like being inspired but I also like finding the originality within myself. I feel like being able to be inspired by myself is what I do nowadays. I don’t listen to a crazy amount of other people because I’m so involved in my own stuff.

That being said. Musical theater, I was on the Wicked train now that Wicked is out. That was my favorite musical growing up. It’s an interesting question because now I realize I don’t listen to that many people.

Well, that’s fun! It’s cool because honestly when I listened to you, I didn’t have a feeling like you necessarily sound like anyone else. I thought you were really original, honestly.

Sky: That’s awesome.

When I saw you, you were opening for Citizen Soldier. You collaborated with them on “Heavy.” Is that something you wrote yourself, did you actually collaborate writing this? How did that go exactly?

Sky: Yeah! So that was a really cool thing that ended up happening. I had this song I was already starting to create because one of my fans reached out to me and asked if I could write this song. She had gone through SA and was really struggling with dealing with all of that and losing a lot of her circle of friends. She wasn’t the same person anymore; she didn’t really like to go to parties because that’s where it happened. She didn’t drink and they basically said she just wasn’t fun anymore, so they cut her off and no longer hung out with her. I related to that a lot because that’s kind of what happened to me. “Heavy” was about that kind of concept, so I wrote half of it. Then I did an open verse challenge to find the other half of this. Citizen Soldier did the open verse and his chorus to it just ended up sitting so perfectly. Then we got together, he actually flew me out to Nashville, and we put it down in the studio. And it just went from there. It was a very organic way of the song being created and being released, which is really cool. That’s when all the really amazing songs happen.

Right! I love that it’s something we’re able to do now. Being able to post something online and you’re so connected to other artists that way. I feel like we’re constantly finding new things that way. The song is amazing, I loved it honestly.

Sky: Thank you. It’s one of my favorites and it ended up getting on Billboard. I know it helped so many people, which is my main goal when I do all of this anyway. I would love to collaborate with them again too, they’re so talented. It was an awesome experience.

That was my first time seeing them as well and it was really great. I know you’ve mostly been releasing singles, but you’re also working on your debut. Is that going to be a full-length album or EP?

Sky: Yeah. It’s gonna be a full-length album. It’s going to be I believe 12 to 13 songs and we’re going to call it The Traumacore Album, just to kind of honor the genre and everything. It’s so many different topics that I’m covering. I’m going to bring awareness to coercion, which I think isn’t talked about much. When I was younger, I was about 17 when I was groomed by an older person, so there’s a song on it called “Strings” which is about grooming. I have one about domestic violence. It’s raising awareness of all these different topics. Different kinds of trauma, and hopefully at the end of the day will help as many people as possible. We’re gearing up to release that, we’re hoping in May 2025. I’m very, very excited about it. It will technically be my first album. I had Into the Dark, which is a small EP.

You mentioned some of the songs. Will these be all new songs, or will you be putting some of your previous singles on it?

Sky: I think we’re going to have “Pretty Distraction” on there and possibly “Why Do I Stay?” Other than that, it will be all new music.

Well, that’s exciting! I love new music. I’m of the age that even though I listen to stuff digitally, I like buying physical music. I think that’s such a fan thing.

Sky: That’s one of my favorite things is we went out of our way to create a really cool album cover. I’m hoping we’ll be able to venture into the world of vinyls. I’m not sure how well that’s gonna go but we’re going to give it a shot.

It’s really popular. A lot of people love to buy vinyl.

Sky: Yeah, some people buy them and listen but some also just buy them to collect it.

I do that. Sometimes I’ve bought an album, but then listen to it digitally so I don’t have to open my case for display. Like it’s too pretty. (laughing)

Sky: I like that, I feel it. I wouldn’t want to unwrap mine.

I’ve literally done that. I don’t want to spend too much of your time today, so I wanted to ask you just a couple of quick questions. We tend to always ask this because we’re such music nerds. What’s the first album you went out and bought yourself with your own money?

Sky: That’s such a good question. I grew up more in the musical theater realm, and my mom ended up getting me into other types of music. I think it might have been Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin. My first show was Nickelback and Breaking Benjamin actually opened for them along with Three Days Grace.

Wow!

Sky: Right. Best show ever. That kind of changed my life in a way because I became aware of the world of rock and heavy music. How intense it can be. It was exciting because it was something me and my mom shared together. So we listened to musical theater and Wicked and then we dove right into “The Diary of Jane.” She’s definitely responsible for my eclectic taste in music.

That’s really cool! And then you got to tour with Keith Wallen from Breaking Benjamin.

Sky: Yes, yes. That was so cool. That was like a full circle moment, my mom was freaking out. It was so cute.

I had met him a couple of times and he’s such a professional, but also so extremely down to Earth and sweet.

Sky: He’s so sweet. He’s the nicest and his whole camp was very supportive of the whole experience. It was my first time touring with bands like this. The amount of organization was so professional. It was a little intimidating at first, but they were so sweet and kind to me. We talked all the time. It was awesome just getting to meet them.

That’s really cool. I don’t know if this is something you’ve thought about or if you have any particular goals. Where do you imagine you’ll be 10 years down the road?

Sky: I work relentlessly hard. My goal is to be at that point selling out arenas. That makes me very ambitious to some people, but I feel like I’ve built the foundation that I need to get to that point. Create not just the fanbase that I have but create a global fanbase who are aware that traumacore exists and that it can help you cope with the things that you’ve been through. Definitely going on tour with other artists, I’d love to collaborate with NF. 10 years is a long way from here, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be at that point.

I will definitely be following and hopefully in 10 years or even less I am randomly sending you a message to congratulate you on getting there.

Sky: Yes, yes! I love that! It’s definitely different because you go on Instagram and see people doing certain things and you think that’s really cool for them. Then you dig a little deeper into their life and you realize their dad is the head of some record company. Right? We’re not gonna pretend that nepotism doesn’t exist. I think it’s even cooler because I don’t come from anything. My mom cleans houses, and my dad works on cars.

Is there anything else we didn’t go over you would like to tell our readers?

Sky: Just keep going. I feel like a huge thing these days it’s so easy to get down on yourself and feel like you don’t deserve certain things or feel like you’re never going to make it. But you are going to make it. I have to remind myself that the journey is the whole point of this. It’s not all about having a song blow up overnight or being exactly where you want to be tomorrow. The building process and the creating the foundation that’s worth having and you’re proud of is the most important thing. I would say to anyone that’s dreaming really hard to accomplish something they think is impossible. Just keep going, you only fail if you stop. All you have to do is keep going.

Interview by I’m Music Magazine Associate Editor/Photographer Daphne McKinney