Song of the Week: Skinny Rasta

It has been approximately nine months since Skinny Rasta was released back in June of 2025, and it is still stuck in my head to this day. Thankfully I have gotten past the point of waking up in the middle of the night with my brain screaming “BUM BUM BUM BUM!” as I stumble down the hall to the bathroom in a semi-conscious state, but only barely.

Skinny Rasta is a great benchmark to use when looking at the band’s recent (and exponential) growth in such a short amount of time as well. Despite being an immensely popular song, for some reason it is still sitting at just over 70,000 views in these last nine months, whereas Pie N Mash has only been out for three weeks and is closing in on 92,000 views as I write this. (And I’m willing to bet it’ll be at 100k by the time this article is published next week).

Though the musical style may be vastly different, there is certainly no difference in the quality of the two tracks. Both are excellent, and extremely catchy—the only obvious difference is in the number of followers the band has had between then and now.

The Skinner Brothers' following has grown by tens of thousands of new faces across each of the different steaming and social media platforms between June of last year and today. Obviously, a significant portion of that is due to the “Ren Effect” after the release of Sick Sick Soul Vol. 1, but that is in no way meant to diminish the tireless efforts of the Skinner Brothers Family. Many of whom have been doing a fair amount of heavy lifting by sharing the music with as many people as they can, and often by any means necessary. The phrase “guerrilla warfare” comes to mind, but you know, with music!

I'm not sure if it was an intentional decision or just a bizarre coincidence, but the band also updated their music catalog with the changing of the seasons similar to the way Starbucks updates their drink menu. We traded in the heavier, colder feeling songs like Dipped and Bitch Lets Ride for lighter, beachy vibes in Subtropical, and then the surfer-chic Skinny Rasta came along just in time for summer to fully kick off. And with summer just around the corner once again (thank God!), it begs the question of whether or not we’ll see a resurgence of playful, warm-weather jams again in the near future? I couldn’t tell you, but I’m ready to pull up a beach chair and sip something out of a coconut until we find out!

When Skinny Rasta came out, I remember thinking that it was impossible to be sad while listening to it, and nothing about that has changed. No matter what you have going on at any given moment, putting Skinny Rasta on will lighten the burden, at least a little bit. It’s almost as if the line “I feel good today” is a direct order that somehow forces your brain into malicious compliance. Whatever this pseudo-serotonin is, it is definitely habit forming– it has kept us all coming back for more week after week, but there are certainly worse problems to have!

I was so drunk, thought they loved me, and I'm still your favorite junkie

Personally, I knew I was going to love this song just by the way the guitar sounded in the intro, but that line is definitely what sold me on it. It briefly tapped into my inner Eminem when I thought “he didn't just say what I think he did, did he?” but that's what I love about Skinner Brothers lyrics—some are poignant, some are utter nonsense, and good luck figuring out which is which. Just when you think you've got it hammered down, he throws something sassy like that in the mix, and suddenly you're that weirdo sitting in a crowded public space laughing to yourself because no one else can see you're wearing headphones. Perfect. Another day, another watch list.

Speaking of questionable behavior, can we talk about how the video has Zac stumbling down the middle of the street drinking beer out of a can and pouring a few out—presumably for all of the homies that are no longer with us (because they were already picked up for public intoxication)? I have to admit, there is no feeling on Earth quite as liberating as being punk in drublic, but the last time I wandered down the road drunk as balls I ended up stealing a traffic cone.

Well, I shouldn't say I 'stole' it because I didn't actually keep it... I guess I “temporarily rehomed” a traffic cone. But with enough vodka you'd be surprised how far you can make it before realizing you don't actually need a traffic cone in your life. Food for thought.

Another thing I really liked in the video was the part towards the middle, when the guitar starts going crazy and the background turns into a bunch of swirling, psychedelic colors. It almost feels like being trapped inside a lava lamp. Regardless of who is editing the videos at any given time, the Skinner Brothers have a knack for aligning visual textures like that perfectly with the intensity and variation of the melody.

If you follow along with the Patreon, you'll have heard Zac describe creating his melodies as “riding a wave”. I don't think he means that metaphorically, either—It almost sounds like some form of synesthesia experience when you listen to him describe it. But being able to pluck an abstract concept like that out of your head and present it in such a way that other people are able to experience it too is an art form in and of itself that the band really does not get enough credit for.

This video also serves as a time capsule for Skinner Brothers history, because it captures the final moments where Zac had to play every character in the video himself before the rest of the band started making steady appearances and doing promotional reels together. That's pretty impressive considering the Skinner Brothers were still releasing a new song/video every two weeks at this point, and they had to get really creative with filming locations and props to keep up with that schedule.

At one point, you can see mulch bouncing off the drums while they're being played, as well as Zac swinging a car tire around as the video goes on. If I remember correctly, he got himself into a bit of trouble for throwing a handful of that same mulch at the cameraman (Claira!) who was very pregnant at the time and was not aware that she should have been receiving hazard pay that day. I'm happy to see Kian and Jack showing up in more of the videos now, because it takes a village to manage that level of mischief without anyone ending up in the ICU.

In closing, I'll say that Skinny Rasta is the perfect jam for anyone looking for a quick pick-me-up on an otherwise melancholy day. At least the tunes from this era of Soul Boy are a bit more mellow, and don't have that hostile undercurrent of back-alley brawls and a relentless pursuit of vengeance that has creeped into some of their heavier tracks...

☘️🖤

Lyrics courtesy of Bandcamp:

I get the feeling when I wake up
I gotta find some place to skate up
I get my smoke on, let me bake up
Skinny Rasta, feel like Jacob

Hate ain't in my makeup
With love, we will not break up
Gotta take off all your makeup
Gotta be yourself, just wake up
Don’t run run run

I don’t know a thing about how
This world works, but I do know that
I feel good today
I feel good today
I feel good today

When the copper come, he gone shakedown
Had a full-scale mental breakdown
But he didn’t find where my stash at
Skinny Rasta, I’m a street rat

I don’t know a thing about how
This world works, but I do know that
I feel good today
I feel good today
I feel good today

I’ma sing it to the skies above me
Neil Young and Stills and Crosby
I was so drunk, thought they loved me
But I’m still your favorite junkie

I don’t know a thing about how
This world works, but I do know that
I feel good today
I feel good today
I feel good today