FEMME FATAL is the self-anointed nickname of skaiwater, who wears it proudly via an adlib that rings throughout their latest project, wonderful. The voice sounds something like a video game announcer, think Street Fighter-esque, preparing the crowd for skaiwater’s performance, followed by a punchy MWAH! sound effect.
It’s that authentic balance between that gives skaiwater their electrifying appeal, and how they can post with bright pink wigs and purses and call themselves a princess and still dominate the underground rap scene. Unlike the sudden push for the 2015 Young Thug swag era archetype that has become the blueprint for every other rapper trying to ride the success of fakemink, skaiwater’s persona has always felt truly theirs, showing that no amount of calculated queerbaiting can replicate being fly. That comes from the soul.
The British nonbinary rapper has been making waves across musical scenes, including appearing as a guest on streamer PlaqueBoyMax’s stream, getting a shoutout from PinkPantheress on Twitter, and featuring on i-dle’s 2026 single “Mono” after making a cameo on the k-pop girl group’s instagram.
skaiwater’s unique style of electrifying production with their punchy yet melodic voice keeps them from fitting into any one genre. This summer, they released their pinkPrint trilogy, a nod to Nicki Minaj’s third studio album, with each of the three EPs featuring a different luxury purse with an airbrushed design. The trilogy features a myriad of uncleared music samples, spanning anywhere from “Recognize” by PARTYNEXTDOOR, “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Agora Hills” by Doja Cat, “songs for women” by Frank Ocean and “Control” by Playboi Carti. skai backboards off the interpolations, taking a line and finishing their verse, while the sample plays off rhythm to skai’s own tempo, highlighting just how strong skai’s creative compass really is. The sample isn’t even a backtrack; it’s more of a stepping stone for skaiwater to finish their thoughts from.
Last month, skaiwater dropped their new album wonderful, which took a dramatic turn from the electronic, pop punk rage rap sound of pinkPrint, to an even stronger blend of musical genres. wonderful has the same strain of post-hyperpop electronic maximalist production but with skai’s delivery almost bordering on pop rock. skaiwater began to tour the album earlier this month on their “wonderful” tour, including a performance at Club Dada in Deep Ellum.
Following high-energy openers Vialice & Baby Osamaa, the crowd was already hyper as the DJ taunted skaiwater’s entrance. Eventually, skaiwater ran out the side and hopped onto the stage, dressed in all black, with a zip-up hood and a full black mask obscuring their face, starting off their first song “SKINS”. At the chorus, the room echoed with chants of “I DON’T NEED NOBODY”, uniting the chaos of the last ten minutes. Eventually, skai ripped off the mask and jacket, revealing themselves to the crowd, piercings sparkling in the strobe lights.
The crowd loved it. Fans at the front bent over the stage, literally lying down on it to get a glimpse of skai on the other side. Even on the first couple songs of the set, the crowd knew each and every line.
skaiwater was in perfect harmony with the crowd; they effortlessly finished hand hearts, grabbed phones and cameras, and dapped up people in the crowd (me included!), all without missing a beat in their performance.
I even got to see a moment where skaiwater noticed a younger fan by the barricade who knew every word of the song, to which they grinned and pointed at him as they finished the verse together, before being whisked back to the rest of the stage. Though reducing skaiwater’s music to just rage rap, like many of their contemporaries, would be doing it a disservice, skai’s performance fully leaned into the rage aesthetic that has become standard in the underground rap scene. The crowd was moshing, with opener Baby Osamaa running back onto the stage and diving straight into the pit. The crowd couldn’t get enough of them, requiring the DJ to repeatedly ask the crowd to take a couple of steps back.
Once skaiwater decided the stage wasn’t doing enough, they ran over to the side of the stage, signaled me to scoot over (like, literally me), before jumping onto the 7-foot speaker. The crowd went crazy, immediately regrouping as an arc around them, while I had the perfect view right behind them to see the fans. Inside the sea of phone cameras and lightsticks, skai embraced the attention, rolling and leaning back into the song while steering the crowd as they screamed the lyrics back at them.
At the climax of the night, skaiwater signalled their DJ to help him onto the deck table. The table didn’t seem to be sturdy enough, though, as fans gasped when it started to wobble. But skaiwater wasn’t phased; they briefly looked around before literally running off of the stage, across the room, and hopping up onto the bar table.
It was literally like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
Immediately, the entire room surged to the other end as skaiwater literally began to perform on the bar counter, singing their hit song “rain” while dodging the little lamps that hung over the counter. The crowd loved it, screaming the lyrics back at them, with their phones right at skai’s knee level, while the bartender had taken a step back to scroll on his phone.
skai eventually hopped back down, to which the crowd surged forward, trying to get their own personal moment with them. They stopped to sign a #gigi vinyl, their debut album, before the DJ switched the song to Playboi Carti’s “ALL RED”, which sent the crowd into commotion, which allowed skai to slip away in plain sight. A crazy finish to such an energetic set, that most of the crowd hadn’t even noticed that the show was over.
As I packed up my stuff and headed out, I saw none other than skai poking their head out of the tour bus, chatting with fans right outside Club Dada like there wasn’t a sea of people inside, absolutely rabid for another moment with them. I told them I loved the energy, and they asked me if I enjoyed the show, which of course I did. They dabbed me up once more before grabbing a phone to say hi to someone’s friends, and I moved out of the street before the rest of the venue realized that skai was out here.
