Skrizzly Adams blends two divergent styles of music while maintaining his individuality—and he’s getting noticed for it. His new track “Take a Sip” is available on the strip club industry’s exclusive DJ pool, StripJointsMusic!
Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West are both icons in the music industry that have distinctive and admittedly, very different sounds (and reputations). But the meshing of those two specific acoustic hues is how musician Skrizzly Adams has been described. While some comparisons are quickly dismissed, Skrizzly Adams embraces this one.
“Both artists are huge influences of mine and my music definitely reflects that,” says Adams. “I like to think of my music as heartland rock with urban undertones, so Kanye-meets-Bruce is the highest compliment.”
EXOTIC DANCER (ED) spoke with Adams about going from being a sought-after producer to a singer, winning a songwriting prize that’s on par with the Heisman Trophy … and beef jerky.
ED: Describe what it was like handling production for Chris Webby‘s There Goes the Neighborhood EP (which went to #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart), and how that prepped you for your own musical career.
ADAMS: “There Goes The Neighborhood” was the first project I was involved with that really got a lot of attention. It was the first time I was creating something that hundreds of thousands of people were consuming and enjoying. That really opened my eyes to the potential reach I could have with creating music; inspiring me to release my own music.
ED: What happened to trigger you pursue signing versus just producing?
ADAMS: I still produce, more so than I sing even, but I started singing simply because I found myself coming up with vocal ideas and lyrics while I was producing that felt authentic to me, and it just made sense to be the singer behind these tracks.
ED: You called winning the “International Songwriting Competition” (for the song “Tipping Point”) akin to winning the Heisman Trophy, so I’m curious how transformative an achievement that was for you? Who was the first person that texted or got in touch with you after the win?
ADAMS: Winning the International Songwriting Competition was a serious moment of validation for me. At the time I had no music of my own profoundly working in the marketplace, so winning an award where nearly all previous winners had gone platinum was very exciting and validating. I don’t remember who the first person to reach out to me was, but I definitely remember a strong outreach and support from a vast array of people at that time.
SJ: How did you get involved in the beef jerky game?
ADAMS: A friend of mine reached out and said they were eating beef jerky while listening to my music and it really just felt right. So that got the wheels turning to create my own Skrizzly’s Beef Jerky. I started cold-calling manufacturers until I established myself with a partner and before I knew it I was selling bags of jerky by the dozens at shows. It’s become a wildly successful division of my business.
SJ: StripJointsMusic.com services gentlemen’s clubs nationwide and gets music out to their DJs, so why would “Take a Sip” be a great song to get played at gentlemen’s clubs across the U.S.?
ADAMS: “Take a Sip” is the perfect song to be blasted at gentlemen’s clubs, it’s a party song, a drinking song, and has a beat that’s a perfect mix of rock and trap for the girls to dance to. It’s a win for everybody in the club!
