Skylar Simone is a product of her own design.
Earlier this spring, the budding star glided onto the scene with “Shiver,” her steamy debut single produced by D’Mile. It marked the launch of a new chapter for the Def Jam signee formerly known as Skylar Stecker.
“It’s like a rebirth,” the 22-year-old tells Rated R&B about her name change. “I’ve been in the industry for over 12 years. Everything I’ve done, I’m grateful for. I carry all that with me — every single experience, good or bad — and apply it moving forward to this journey.”
The Tampa-born singer spent her early childhood and adolescence developing herself as a multifaceted artist — one sings, writes, and plays instruments. She released a series of projects under her birth name before releasing the final act in 2021.
Simone says her decision to change her stage name stemmed from her evolution as an artist and her vision for the road ahead of her.
“I’m in a new place in my life,” she asserts. “I’m a grown woman now, and I have different experiences and things I want to talk about. I went through the trial and error period when I was younger, just trying different sounds and until I refined that recently.”
Skylar Simone’s debut EP, Shiver, is a glimpse into the musical world that she’s been sculpting in recent years. The five-track collection, which is out now, runs smooth and slick like a sheen of sweat.
The quivering title track sets the stage for more sensations to come. “You know what I like when I shiver / My body can’t lie when I shiver,” she whispers in the chorus. “It really set the groundwork for the entire EP,” Simone says about “Shiver.” “I think that song really encapsulates what the whole EP is about and that energy.”
She maintains the bedroom allure in the playful “Shut Up” and the sugar-coated come-on “Permission,” an instant standout helmed by Scribz Riley and J. Valle. Although the latter song was made for the sheets, its breezy production makes it ideal for a romantic road trip.
The penultimate “Someone Who Cares” and the closer “I Wish I Lied” reflect Simone’s more emotional side as she navigates a withering relationship.
Sonically, Shiver blends some of Simone’s musical influences in a way that feels second nature and not forced. It threads Janet Jackson’s sensuousness, Brandy‘s vocal stacks, and Mariah Carey’s glass-shattering whistles into a concise body of work that will leave listeners salivating for more.
In Rated R&B’s interview with Skylar Simone, the promising act discusses her musical background and talks more about Shiver, including her breakdown of every track.
You got started in music at a very early age. When did you discover that music was your passion?
I discovered my love for music at a talent show. I was supposed to play the piano. I was nine, so I was in the third grade. I went into audition and they were like, “We already have a piano player. Can you do something else? Can you sing the song?” I never tried singing at that point. They ended up convincing me to do it, and I sang, and from that day forward, I just fell in love with it. I knew that’s what I wanted to do, so I started putting videos up on YouTube and traveling nationally, [singing] the national anthem wherever I could at sporting events.
Who were some of your musical influences growing up?
I love Bruno [Mars]. I love Alicia [Keys]. I play the drums and the piano. The piano was the first instrument I learned, so Alicia was a huge inspiration. Her catalog was some of the first songs I ever learned how to sing and play on the piano. Beyoncé obviously is incredible and Bruno as well as on the performance side. I also grew up on the pop divas like Mariah [Carey] and Whitney [Houston]. Vocally, there’s no one that can compete. Janet [Jackson] is a huge influence as well.
What inspired your debut EP, Shiver?
Life, first and foremost. That’s the number one thing in writing, too. When I was younger, I was more imaginative with concepts. Now, it’s anything and everything I’m going through. I’m a total open book in the sessions. That’s also what excites me because it lets people into where I am a hundred percent transparent in my life at that given moment. I’m also very inspired on the music side. I’m huge into how music makes you feel, like the sonics and vocal production side of it.
I learned how to vocal produce during the pandemic. During this past couple of years developing this project, it was the first time I was able to work in person with a D’Mile and those collaborators to apply those skills instead of doing it all myself. I got to get the sound that I wanted from my stacks, vocals, and all of that. Janet [Jackson], as well as Brandy, was a huge inspiration for that. It’s almost even more important than the lyricism — those intricate moments on the vocal side.
With this project, I wanted to play into that aspect more. I wanted people to feel sexy and playful. I wanted to be very real in the delivery, but didn’t want it to feel too forward. Janet did such a great job at being super sexy, but it almost had this innocence to it. I wanted the music to be like if you strip down what the concepts are saying, it can go a lot deeper, but it doesn’t feel like this huge weight on your shoulders when listening. If anything, it feels more fun and playful. That was kind of the overarching [theme]. It was more of a feeling concept, less so a lyrical concept overall.
What do you hope listeners will take away from Shiver?
Since it’s my debut project with my new name, I hope it gives people a look into what’s to come. For the first time, [it’s] a true representation of who I am in self-discovery. Also, from a listener standpoint, I hope people love it. I hope it makes them feel sexy, confident, empowered, or whatever it may be. When I’m going through something, I love to search for music that I feel reflects that exact mood. So I hope the music can be a little comfort blanket to people no matter what they’re going through, good or bad.
Below, Skylar Simone breaks down each track from Shiver.
“Shiver”
“Shiver” was the first song that I wrote for the project. It was me, D’Mile, and Taylor Hill, who was the co-writer on it along with me. I went in, and we just started playing with different sounds. D’Mile is just so musical, it’s insane. Everything he plays is incredible. So that part was easy. We were freestyling melodies, and I think it was Taylor who started kind of saying, “Something like shiver.” I love that because of how we discussed the concept of feelings. I love that shiver is a feeling word. It’s an action. It’s how you feel. I just started to visualize goosebumps and all of these things. That’s when it all clicked for me. It really set the groundwork for the entire EP. I think that song encapsulates what the whole EP is about and that energy.
“Shut Up”
“Shut Up,” sonically, is a little different than the other songs on the EP, which I really love. For a second, we were debating if it made sense to be on the EP or not. I’m so glad it did. I wanted it to be the second single because I felt like it needed its own moment outside of the EP. Also, I’m huge on matching seasons with music. To me, it feels like a going-into-summer record. Also, I love the wordplay. If you see the title or hear it, it’s almost like a negative. I love turning a negative word almost into a motivational word, so to speak, and encouraging this playful energy. I love messing with juxtapositions like that. I do that a lot in my lyricism and music. If it’s a more angsty type of track, I like to make the lyrics playful and vice versa.
“Permission”
“Permission,” that’s my s**t right there. I work a lot with this producer, Scribz Riley. He’s incredible and just an amazing person. I went to London for a week. We just worked on records and that was one of the ones that came about from that trip. I love how it had this almost like Michael [Jackson] kind of swag with the guitar. It almost reminded me of The Weeknd with the “I feel it coming” kind of cadence. For that one, I wanted an uptempo record so bad. At that point, everything had been a little more slow. When Scribz turned that track on, I was like, “Boom, this is it!” It only took us three or four hours to finish the entire song, which is fairly quick for my process.
“Someone Who Cares”
This actually has a kind of a funny story. I was in a relationship when I wrote that song. It’s obviously a breakup song, but I wanted a record like that on the EP. I wanted to show that side because I’ve obviously been through that, just not in that moment in time. So, I was writing it right in this relationship, and a couple of months go by, and I end up breaking up with the said person. I swear the song manifested this breakup because it is word for word how I feel like what ended up happening. I think subconsciously, I knew it was coming. That song was my personal anthem when I was going through post-breakup emotions. It helped me really get through it.
“I Wish I Lied”
I was having a conversation with a friend. We were talking about when people cheat [and] they tell. I was saying, “First of all, I would never [cheat], but if I did, I would tell the person. You have to give them that choice.” My friend was like, “Hell no. I would never tell the person.” I was like, “That’s so horrible. But I have to write this” (laughs).
Usually, you hear those songs from a male perspective, where they’re trying to get the woman back or whatever. So I thought it was funny to flip it and be in the female perspective and be playful about it. Like, you feel bad, but then in the second verse, you’re gaslighting the person like, “Oh wait, but you are now with someone. Maybe you were doing sneaky s**t too.” I think we’ve all had those moments where we have those inner thoughts where we’re like, we’re never going to act or do anything — but it’s like, “What if?” So, it’s one of those records. It’s kind of intruding on our thoughts deep down that no one ever speaks about.
Stream Skylar Simone’s Shiver EP below.
