American rapper, Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne, widely known as Ski Mask the Slump Godfirst gained notoriety with XXXTentacion and their group Members Only.

Ski Mask has released numerous songs including Take A Step Back, Life Is Short, Baby Wipe, and Catch Me Outside and has also collaborated with the likes of Lil Pump, Lil Peep, Lil Tracy, Lil Uzi Vert, and of course, XXXtentacion.

He also received endorsements from Missy Elliot and Desiigner.

Ski Mask got into a dispute with Rob Stone which would result in irate tweets, stabbings, and Ski Mask getting jumped on stage. 

Ski Mask was raised in South Florida and was inspired to pursue rapping by his father, who was also a rapper. Though music has always played a significant role in his life, his upbringing was difficult, and he refused to accept music as a career until he found his artistic true partner in a juvenile jail facility.

He would later launch his own musical group, Very Rare, and even get the name tattooed on his face. After that, he would go on to start Members Only, but given the tattoo, I have to believe that Very Rare is still in some way operating.

Anyway, as he rose through the ranks, he developed a distinctive sound, rock-influenced rap, along with what he calls wholesome mic prowess.

Here is a fascinating tale about Ski Mask's early life.

Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne, better known as Ski Mask The Slump God, was born on April 18, 1996. He has Jamaican origin and lived between his mother and father's homes while growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his four siblings. Due to the struggles of both parents, life wasn't always simple.

His early years usually included a lot of music. Jamaican music was continuously being bumped when he was visiting his grandmother and lived with his mum.

Ski Mask's father was also a rapper and encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps. So, starting at a young age, he encouraged him to write rhymes.

Ski Mask recently told XXL that it was either make this shit work or die trying after realizing early on that rap could provide him a future.

But despite his father's early support, Ski Mask would take some time before he started spitting fire. Despite having music in his veins, he insists that he wasn't a prodigy when he initially began out.

Ski Mask first honed his skills before meeting his most frequent collaborator, Xxxtentacion, but his career would really take off following that encounter. He has admitted that despite not spitting then, he continued to pen raps. Additionally, he would be free styling with neighbors, according to XXL.

Ski Mask's many musical inspirations led to the development of his distinctive sound. Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot, Nelly, the Wu Tang Clan, Ludacris, and Lil Wayne were among the artists he grew up listening to.

He also listens to Hurricane Chris, Jim Jones, Red Man, Camron, Method Man, and Fabolous. Even though J Cole and Kendrick Lamar are significantly different from him, he frequently mentioned them as artists that he really enjoys.

Additionally, he listed Timbaland as his preferred producer. However, Ski Mask has never only listened to hip hop. He continues to listen to a wide range of musical genres and styles, including heavy metal, ska, pop, indie, and grunge. And he has many favorites from genres other than rap. 

Ironically, Ski Mask's career would start to take shape after his life had a significant setback. He was detained at the Broward Juvenile Detention Center in 2014 after being found in possession of marijuana worth only $10.

The fact that Ski Mask said he was arrested while high on mushrooms and even passed out during the booking process is rather bizarre given that he was only charged with possessing a tiny amount of marijuana.

But after he was behind bars, he ultimately ran upon Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, best known by his stage name, XXXtentacion, who was being held on a charge of robbery and using a firearm. X handed Ski Mask an extra cookie for his birthday.

The two quickly grew close and enjoyed rapping together. Both artists, according to Ski Mask, gained knowledge from one another. Ski Mask was instructed by X to rap with greater aggression and assurance.

And Ski showed X how to move with a smoother, more organic flow. After they both left, the two agreed to meet up, but initially it wasn't to start composing music.

Thankfully, they managed to keep each other's attention on music when they finally met outside.

Ski Mask and X established the Very Rare collective, and in 2015, he released his debut single, Catch Me, on Sound Cloud.

The same year, he joined forces with X to start a brand-new collective they dubbed Members Only, and together they put out their first two mixtapes called Members Only, Volumes One and Two. (A third volume of Members Only would be released in 2017, two years later.)

In the meanwhile, he also released his solo mixtape, Drown In Designer in 2016, which included tracks like his enormously successful, Take a Step Back and his Lil Pump collaboration, Wheres The Blow.

Other musicians were taking note as his music erupted and his sound cloud ignited. He received a lot of endorsements, and in 2017, Desiigner even requested Ski Mask to join him on his Outlet Tour.

Although a great chance, the tour would also fuel his ongoing feud with Rob Stone. Rob Stone claims that the issues began on the first day of the tour when Ski Mask began shaking hands with fans in the middle of Rob's song.

Then, during Stone's homecoming performance in San Diego, Ski Mask showed up very late and wouldn't leave the stage when it was Rob's turn to play.

This sparked some Twitter arguments between Rob Stone, Ski Mask, and X. Therefore, Rob Stone's goons jumped Ski Mask and beat him from the stage to the street on April 10th while Ski Mask was playing at the Fonda in Los Angeles.

According to Ski, one of his crew members was stabbed in the mouth as things got quite ugly.


Furthermore, it goes without saying that future excursions would take care to avoid using both Ski Mask and Rob Stone on the lineup.

The tension between Ski and Rob would lessen a little as a result, although Ski Mask would still run into some legal issues.

He was detained in Fort Lauderdale on August 2, 2016, for driving while his license was suspended and in relation to a robbery. He was later released on bail, which cost him a whopping $10,600.

Despite these setbacks, Ski Mask eventually met his manager, Solomon Sounds, who I have to assume helped him connect with some major labels. As a result, in 2016, Ski Mask released his mixtape, You Will Regret in 2017, through Universal Music Group.

After signing a contract with Republic Records in May 2017, Ski Mask released his first studio album under the label in 2018.